Cosmic Consequences
by Chrisca
Summary: A seemingly innocent prank goes wrong and sends Marx to an alternative universe, one where Kirby's a baby and King Dedede rules Dream Land as a tyrannical menace...What's a cosmic jester to do? Post-Kirby Star Allies.
1. A Prank Gone Wrong

Being friends with Kirby was fairly amusing…most of the time.

See, Marx was the kind of person who liked excitement, and as such he went to extreme measures to stay entertained and avoid the dreadful emotion known as boredom. Alas, once Void Termina had been dealt with and peace returned to Popstar and the universe alike, things went back to its usual cycle of everyday life.

Which included lots of naps and lunchtimes – sometimes even _both_ – for a certain pink puffball.

Again, that kind of lifestyle was boring, and not at all one Marx preferred.

Kirby made sure he was well-fed, at least, which was a good thing. Marx had a habit of stealing more than his fair share, but who could blame him? It took a lot to satisfy his black hole of an appetite, so surely the others understood.

And yet they didn't. But that was their loss – literally. He sometime wondered if they wanted to experience the alternative instead – but hey, what were a few destroyed worlds? Galaxies? _Universes_? Conquest of Planet Popstar?

The cosmic jester shook his head.

The point was; Marx came here sensing danger. He was ready to assist, rolling across the galaxies on his ball and bringing down the big baddies. That was then.

Now there were no more baddies to fight.

So that was why Marx found himself currently bored out of his mind, jumping up and down on his striped ball while staring at the sleeping form of his only real friend. Kirby lay in the shades of a large tree, the sun's bright rays casting shadows all over the ground in the form of the leaves above. He found himself staring at those instead, watching them swerve in the soft summer breeze. One leaf fell off and floated to the ground.

Boring. _Boring_.

A few butterflies fluttered by, one landing on Kirby. Then it took off again, following after its other retreating brethren.

Completely and utterly _boring_.

He might as well cause a bit of mischief before the party pooper woke up.

Bouncing away on his trusted ball, Marx left Kirby behind to prepare a nasty surprise for his little puffy friend.

* * *

Kirby didn't like his surprise. Not one bit.

"Hey, hey, hey." Marx said with a bright smile, his two fangs glinting in the sunlight. "You're just gonna leave my surprise here? What gives? Don't you _like_ it?"

Kirby looked mighty conflicted, to say the least. Marx was sure he was having an internal battle between staying positive and appreciating his gift, or being, frankly speaking, revolted by it.

Kirby was just sweet like that, always one to consider other people's feelings.

"Don't you like _me_?" Marx threw in as an extra measure, and then giggled. He kind of wished Kirby could see his own expression right about now, because it looked _hilarious_.

"Marx..." The pink puffball said, sending him a disapproving look. "Why did you do this, poyo? Are you hungry again?"

"Oh, no, no. I'm not hungry right now, but..._you_ are, right?" He asked, his voice dripping with sweet innocence. "I just wanted to give you something nice in return for all the food you feed me daily, so go ahead! Eat it. Because you _gotta_. You love it, right? _Right_?"

"Right..."

Kirby turned back to gaze at the "gift" in question. It looked like some sort of bubbling, writhing mass of black goo, and it was currently covering the entirety of the snacks Kirby had set aside for his lunch. Marx giggled again. He found the stuff on one of his many travels across the universe. He didn't know what it was or where it came from, but he was certain it wasn't anything edible.

Kirby's face turned into a worrying frown when he lifted a stubby arm, as if about to touch the stuff. He stopped himself just before coming into contact with the sizzling goo.

He turned back around to stare at Marx, who was currently jumping up and down on his ball, looking as cute and sweet as possible.

"Marx poyo." Kirby began. "I don't think this is supposed to be here on planet Popstar. Can you please get rid of it before it multiplies or something even _worse_?"

"What? Not gonna inhale it?"

"No."

Marx stared. Kirby stared back.

"Hey, hey, hey. No need to get so grumpy about it. I'll get rid of it if that's what you want."

The pink hero gave him a bright smile.

"Thanks Marx! It's very kind of you to give me a gift, even though your taste in them are pretty...well..."

The jester shrugged with his left foot. "I get it. No need to mask your ungratefulness, it's pretty obvious you _hate_ it."

"Err...no, poyo! I just don't know what to do with it. Because I certainly can't _eat_ it." Kirby looked conflicted again.

Marx felt like laughing. His friend was so _easy_ to mess with.

"It's fine, I get it." He continued. "You're not used to receiving such sophisticated gifts."

Before his friend had a chance to reply, the purple jester scooped the ruined lunch up with his feet and formed it into a ball, kicking it back and forth a few times before securing it behind his hat, the two puffs holding it down. Then he was up in the air, having summoned his bright wings. He flew around his puffy friend for a little while, the mirror-like, hexagon-shaped scales hanging from his wings glittering nicely in the sunlight.

"I'll just dump your lunch in space then. Maybe someone out _there_ will appreciate it more."

And then he took off, soaring through the sky like a shooting star, away from planet Popstar.

* * *

Once in space, the cosmic jester contemplated where to dump the garbage currently sticking to his back. In hindsight, it probably hadn't been his best plan to date, but it was totally worth it due to seeing Kirby's funny expressions. He could throw it away then and there and be done with it, letting it drift off into the infinite expanses of space, but that sounded boring as well. Marx might as well go full on out with this impromptu prank.

He eventually reached one of the other planets around Popstar, and was determined to dump it onto any unsuspecting victim. Then he'd return home and figure out something else to do, as this escapade was already getting redundant – more like a chore than anything else.

Things didn't go quite as planned, however, because just as Marx was about to blast the ruined lunch away like one of his many balls, the sticky goo suddenly expanded and enveloped the purple jester. He let out a startled cry as it crept all over his body, and once nothing was left uncovered, the goo reduced in size and disappeared with a blip, taking Marx with it as he was blinked out of existence – like he hadn't been there to begin with.

* * *

With a shout, Marx reappeared somewhere and crashed face-first to the ground. He skidded several feet before his body stopped, dirt and gravel surrounding his body. One of his feet twitched in the air, and Marx groaned, spitting out some dirt with disgust written all over his face. He got up and hopped to his feet, blinking his large, purple eyes open as he took in his new surroundings.

Where had he crash-landed? And for that matter, why? Marx didn't remember falling in the first place. That stupid black goo had been more than just goo, it would seem.

"Kirby was right about it being dangerous, huh?" He admitted reluctantly.

Everything around him looked very familiar. In fact, it looked so familiar it took him only a second to realize where he was.

Marx blinked again. "I'm back in Dream Land?" He questioned.

Sure enough, the beautiful lush-green scenery of Dream Land surrounded him wherever he looked, the grass beneath his feet swerving with the light breeze from earlier. Tall trees stood before him, adorned with bushes, shrubs, several item flowers, and everything else nature had to offer.

As nice as it was, Marx honestly couldn't care less about such scenery, even though he once upon a time wished to own everything this planet had to offer. This wasn't to say that he still didn't, because somewhere deep down he hadn't forgotten about his failed attempt. He probably couldn't forget it even if he tried.

But just like he instantly recognized the place for what it was, Marx likewise noticed several oddities – things that shouldn't have been there, things out of place. Like how one particular town could be seen from his high vantage point, King Dedede's castle looming above it on a tall hill.

The town seemed to be relatively peaceful, like everything else in Dream Land, and Marx could spot several yellow beings wandering about, back and forth, like scuttling little insects he could squish beneath his feet.

Somewhere not too far from his current location stood a farm with several grazing sheep, and another one of those yellow beings was working on its farmhouse, humming a merry tune.

Marx would have quirked an eyebrow if he had one. Had he traveled to the future or something? Or maybe even the past?

Summoning his wings, Marx jumped off the hill and flew high above the little town, taking note of everything he could – like the location of Wispy's Forest, a strange canyon that looked like a shrine hailing some sort of deity, some volcanoes, a lighthouse, a vast jungle and a few caverns.

His keen eyes then zeroed in on Kirby's little dome-shaped house, situated just outside the town beneath Castle Dedede. Right, Marx should probably go see his friend again, and maybe even figure out what the hell was going on.

Landing swiftly on Kirby's doorstep – seeing as the puffball wasn't sleeping under the tree anymore – Marx kicked it open with zero regard and entered the house like he owned the place.

"Hey, hey, hey. Kirby, what's-"

His sentence died immediately as he took in the sight of his friend.

Kirby looked up at Marx with wide, curious eyes.

"Poyo?" He said, tilting his head to the side.

"Oh." Was all Marx could mutter. How eloquent. "You're a baby now. That's cool."

"Poyo poyo!" Baby Kirby squealed as he neared the jester.

"Welp, I'm screwed."


	2. Sightseeing

Marx could only come to two logical conclusions here, what with the small pink puffball circling him while radiating pure, unbridled joy and babbling like a little baby. It was as if his friend thought he was the most interesting thing to have ever graced planet Popstar, and the jester could honestly get used to that sort of reverence – plus it was kind of cute, if Marx allowed himself to have that thought.

But psh, perish the thought, right?

So yeah, two conclusions to work with.

One, he had somehow landed himself in the past.

Or two, this was some sort of alternative universe, the goo having apparently decided he had to be flung here like an item ready for shipment.

Marx didn't think it was the first one, because he himself had spent most of his childhood on planet Popstar – or at least as far as he could remember – and he had also visited Dream Land on several occasions in the past. It was necessary back then, to gain the trust of Kirby and have him do his bidding. And gaining that trust had been so _easy_ it wasn't even funny. Almost, at least.

"Poyo, poyo!" Little Kirby squealed, wiggling his small nubby arms in front of Marx – likely in an attempt to gain back his unwavering attention.

Marx blinked. Right, baby Kirby was still here.

"Heh, what to do with you?" He muttered, lifting one foot to reinforce his question.

Kirby swatted at his foot and giggled. Marx's eye twitched.

Not cute, not cute, _not_-

Kirby then hugged him.

"Gah!" The cosmic jester shouted, and then pushed the little puffball off of him in reflex. "Don't touch me!" He sneered.

He immediately regretted his unfortunate reaction – he never really liked to be touched, but he could tolerate it most of the time. This reaction was purely out of surprise.

But as the small hero stood back up and began babbling like there was no tomorrow, like he was in the middle of admonishing him, Marx could definitely say he regretted pushing him off.

He gave a forced smile. "Hey, hey, hey! Calm down, Kirby. Jeez, you'd think I was trying to kill you or something."

Which didn't really make much sense, seeing as a dead Kirby wouldn't be able to scold him. Plus, Marx wasn't about to kill him – that wasn't really something he had planned for at the moment.

"Poyo, poyo poyo poyo _poyo_-"

"Okay, I think I get it already." Marx stated, his annoyance rising a bit.

"Yeah, keep quiet, Kirby! And have you finished making my bed yet?!" Someone else shouted, much to a certain jester's confusion.

He looked around to identify this new voice, but when he found no one but himself and Kirby, Marx decided it must have come from outside.

Kirby huffed, but turned quiet nonetheless with a final "Poyo!".

"Who was that?" Marx asked when the commotion died down.

"Poyo?" Kirby titled his head.

Seriously, he was _not_ cute.

The voice from before returned in full force as a small yellow thing zipped in though the open window. It hovered above the two of them with a frown present on its face.

"Hey, I said be quiet!" It chided. "Pinky, you-"

Marx and the yellow bird's eyes met. A brief silence fell over them.

Then "Who the heck are _you_?"

Marx summoned one of his many balls and jumped onto it. He balanced himself, tap-tapping around the house as he gave a wide smile, showing off his fangs.

"Hey, hey, hey. I'm Marx!" He greeted.

"Marx, Marx!" Kirby exclaimed happily. Marx gave him a sweet smile. He just couldn't help himself.

"A pleasure." The bird said, its voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm Tokkori. I haven't seen _you_ around before. Are you a friend of Kirby's or something?"

"Or something..." Marx replied. He _was_ friends with Kirby, but not this current version of him.

Tokkori then rounded on Kirby again. "Anyway, I let you stay in my house because it's your job to make my bed each morning, so the least you can do is let me enjoy my own company in peace while you work!" The bird huffed. "So stay quiet!"

Marx flung his ball at Tokkori, the projectile exploding with confetti as the bird was flung back outside with a startled shriek. Marx giggled. He had decided then and there that the bird had to go. Not only was he annoying beyond reason, he also had the gall to mess with his friend. Only Marx got to mess with Kirby, and that was final.

"Hehehe!" He cackled as he summoned yet another ball to balance on.

Kirby began scolding him again, but at least this time the cosmic jester had expected it. No matter which version of Kirby he met, the puffball would always stay righteous to a fault. It was almost sickening, but Marx could tolerate it.

After all, if he could get past their horrible start that would eventually end in a shaky friendship, Marx could let by-goners be by-goners.

'_But then again...'_ The purple jester thought. _'Would it really be that hard to get rid of this innocent little Kirby? Taking over Popstar would be a breeze if he wasn't around.'_

Marx blinked. Those were some of his more..._dangerous_ thoughts. He shouldn't dabble in them right now, it wasn't time for that.

"Okay, Kirby." He began, turning to face the baby. "I'll go ahead and scout the area, see if I can find a way to return to my own universe...or time, depending on which of my theories are correct. Be a good...baby or whatever, and stay here, okay? Hey, hey, hey, don't look so sad! I'll only be gone for a little while!" Marx chuckled.

Kirby had adopted a sad expression the moment he said he was leaving, but leave he must, no matter how sad a face his puffy friend could muster.

"Poyo, poyo..."

"Nope, I'm leaving. This is me, leaving right now. See ya!"

And with that, Marx went out of the still open door (courtesy of his rough man-handling). Once out in the open again, Marx glanced at the small town – which now appeared to be more like a village instead, given it's size – and tap-tapped away on his ball.

He wondered what sort of people lived there. It wasn't everyday one got to land themselves in an alternative universe, and so he couldn't help but wonder if things would be more interesting now, and if there were any enemies to fight. If not, well, then...Marx would just have to create one himself. The worst kind of villain Popstar would ever be unfortunate enough to face against.

Marx giggled.

* * *

The village itself was a peaceful one, with several houses, stores and facilities taking up space below Castle Dedede. Marx spotted a restaurant and a police district along the way, and a few of those yellow people that passed him gave him odd and curious looks, not much unlike a certain pink hero had. Marx ignored them all in favor of his tour, taking his time memorizing the locations for later use. A gas station here, a library there. A clinic, a few stores and a post office. Check, check and double check.

This was definitely not the Dream Land Marx had grown up with and eventually desired.

"My, who might you be?" One of the yellow beings said, stopping the jester mid-bounce. He turned around to see an elderly lady with gray curly hair and a pink foulard stroll toward him. Marx sneered inwardly. He didn't want to speak to this person, let alone _nice_ old ladies like her.

"Are you a tourist, or perhaps a sightseer? We certainly don't get a lot of outside visitors in Pupu Village. Are you here with your parents?" She asked, and then just kept the questions coming.

Marx put on his most innocent and cute face, and then smiled sweetly, making sure his fangs weren't too visible when he answered.

"Yes ma'am, I'm just here to see the sights, yep! But I'm not here with my parents or anything, 'cause I'm old enough to travel alone."

Never mind the fact that he wasn't that old yet. But she didn't need to know that.

The old lady chuckled. "Oh, pardon me then, you just look so very young. How long are you planning on staying? Do you have any friends to turn to? I'm afraid our little village doesn't have an inn yet, but maybe we should add one now that I think about it. I'll have to speak with my husband about that, ho ho!"

Marx nodded, completely uninterested. "Yeah, yeah. You do that."

"But do you have a place to stay?" She inquired once again.

"Err, sure. I'm staying at Kirby's place, yeah."

The old lady looked startled. "My, you're a friend of Kirby's? Are you perhaps also a Star Warrior?"

Marx shrugged with a foot. "Something along those lines."

"Well, I suppose that explains your likeness to Kirby. I must confess I've never met one of your kind before."

Neither had Marx, as weird as that sounded. But that was beside the point. He didn't plan on staying a second longer with this old lady.

"Yep, I'm pretty unique, that's me, Marx!" He cheered. "But I gotta roll. Tourism calls and all, you know? Gotta see everything this village has to offer!"

The lady nodded with a kind smile. Marx wanted to rip it off right then and there.

"Sure, you go ahead and have fun. I hope you'll enjoy your stay in Pupu Village, and know that you can always turn to me or my husband, the Mayor, if you have any questions or problems."

"Gotcha." Marx droned out, taking note of the fact that this lady was married to the Mayor.

He wasted no time in tap-tapping away from the horror of having to speak with an elderly person, and then finished his "sightseeing" in a matter of twenty minutes.

Aside from a better understanding of the village's layout, Marx hadn't really gained anything useful from this venture. He still didn't know how to return home, even if this technically _was_ his home.

A trip to space might be in order at some later point in time.

For now he had one more place to visit before he decided on what to do.

Marx glanced up at King Dedede's castle with a smile on his face. Maybe he could steal some food from his royal pain while he was at it.

Bringing forth his colorful wings, Marx leapt through the air, the ball on the ground popping in a flashy display that startled several of the townsfolk passing by. He giggled as he flew away, the castle his main objective.

* * *

Castle Dedede was vastly different from what Marx recalled. It wasn't like he had visited the place a lot in the first place, but this just went to add to the differences between his Dream Land and this one. The place itself was huge, to say the least, the brick walls cold and uncaring as he flew through its dark halls. He had yet to come across anyone other than the many Waddle Dee servants scurrying back and forth, some with trays of food while others with various items and assortments.

Marx quickly snatched some fruits from one of said trays, hurrying along before the Waddle Dee who carried it could notice. He would have _loved_ to see Dedede's expression once the Dee returned with an empty tray, but alas, now was not the time.

As he rounded a corner, Marx immediately went back around to hide behind it. Someone was there, and he could just make out a voice echoing through the halls.

Marx strained to listen, his interest piqued.

"...Huh, that's strange." A young boy said as he looked back at a retreating blue form, sounding confused. Then he began running after the other, shouting "Sir Meta Knight!"

Ah. So that was this world's Meta Knight? How curious. Marx wondered if he was the same silent grouch as the one he knew. He took a bite out of his stolen apple.

"Oh!" The boy stopped running as Meta Knight ceased walking.

"Where's Fumu." The masked knight asked, cold and to the point.

"She went to meet with Kirby. Is it Dedede again?"

There was another brief pause.

"Tell Kirby to hide himself as soon as possible. He is in danger." Was all Meta Knight said, and then he took his leave.

"Da...Danger?!" The boy exclaimed after the knight's retreating form.

As Meta Knight left, Marx decided to go speak with the boy. Finishing the food he had snatched, Marx made his wings vanish in favor of landing on his favorite striped ball. Tap-tapping over to the little yellow boy with the funny haircut, Marx went to introduce himself.

"Hey, hey, hey. What's this all about? Kirby's in danger?"

The boy whirled around like a beast had snuck up on him.

"Wh-who are you?" He asked, looking Marx up and down. "And where did you come from?"

"I'm Marx! And I came from that corner right over there. Old news, you know? How about you answer my question instead, and make it _quick_?"

"Wha—hey, why should I tell you anything?! For all I know, you could be a Demon Beast too!" The boy accused, pointing a finger at the jester.

Marx smiled. "Hey, hey. Do I look like a demon to you?" He asked innocently.

The boy paused. "...No. Not really."

"There, you see? Now why don't you tell Marx what's going on? I know Kirby, you know. We're great friends!"

The boy startled. "What, you are?! Are you a Star Warrior too? Did you come from space?"

Marx shrugged with a foot while he bounced on his ball. "Yeah, I'm from space. Not sure about this whole Star Warrior thing though."

"Well...Okay." The boy conceded. "I don't really know what's going on either, but Meta Knight said Kirby's in danger. Our King, Dedede, has this computer that downloads Demon Beasts, and he uses them to try to get rid of Kirby!" He said, waving his hands around like he was bragging about his extra limbs. "I bet he's ordered another one again, that rotten _King_. I have to hurry and tell my sister and Kirby about it!"

"Huh." Marx said, absorbing all of the information he was given. "Dedede sounds like a real jerk here...well, even more so!" He giggled, because that was kind of hilarious.

A rotten king's fate was to be overthrown, right? Maybe Marx would take his position someday, if he played his cards right.

"You're weird." The boy said. "I'm leaving now, okay? This is kind of important!"

The boy proceeded to run, leaving Marx behind. The purple puffball bounced a bit more before leaving as well, his destination still not changed from before.

He decided visiting King Dedede was in order, and then he would observe the chaos this so-called Demon Beast could cause.

One thing was for sure;

Marx had found something worthwhile, and his previous boredom had been swiftly thrown out of the window, never to be missed.


	3. Taking Too Long

King Dedede was grinning like a stereotypical villain by the time Marx found him, rubbing his hands together in absolute glee while snickering his own name.

"Dedededede." So he snickered.

It hadn't been hard to find him, seeing as he was staying in the room the jester had passed when he went to speak with that yellow boy.

The King was sitting on a hovering, movable throne chair, a weird snail person standing by his side. Marx had never seen that guy before, but he was sure he would make a good side dish. What was the name of that famous snail dish again? Escargot? Eh, sounded tasty enough.

In any case, Marx immediately took notice of how this Dedede was extremely overweight, as if he hadn't moved a single muscle in years. Did that guy only eat and let Kirby have his own adventures, unlike the King from his own dimension? Oh man, that was just _sad_. Marx couldn't help but giggle, the sound carrying over to the two other occupants in the room from his current hiding place.

King Dedede and the snail turned their heads in the direction of the sound, but since his laughter had an echoing quality to it, it reverberated throughout the room and thus made his hiding place impossible for the two idiots to find.

"Wh-what was that?! Who's there?!" The heavyset King shouted, his head whipping back and forth with a speed that was almost impressive.

"Your Majesty, do you think it's the Demon Beast you just ordered?" The snail guy asked, wringing his hands together in apparent fear.

"Pah, it better show itself to its master if that's the case!" Dedede bellowed. "Come out, you beast! Show yourself so I can order you to get rid of that blasted Kirby!"

Oh, this was just hilarious. Marx giggled again, reveling in their scared expressions. The purple jester hadn't expected them to be so fun to mess with, but it was clearly apparent these two were nothing but morons, unlike Dedede's slightly less incompetent counterpart.

Should Marx play along and pretend to be this "Demon Beast" they kept talking about? Or should he just go with his original plan?

Decisions, decisions.

"It's gotten quiet again...Do you think it's still here?"

Dedede slammed his fist into the snail's head, causing said snail to cry out in pain.

"It better be." The King sneered. "Hurry up and get out here! That Customer Service guy wouldn't show me how you looked, so I better get to see you now!"

Oh well, this guy was practically asking for it.

With that in mind, Marx trotted out from behind a pillar. He wasn't balancing on his ball at the moment, so he made his way over to his royal painfulness by foot instead.

The two idiots immediately locked their eyes onto him.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Marx greeted them cheerfully. "I'm Marx, and the pleasure is all yours, hee hee hee!"

Dedede glared at him, his gaze showing nothing but pure contempt. "Marx? What kind of name is that? You look weak! Can you really destroy Kirby?"

"Yeah, you're puny!" The snail guy added, snickering.

"Hey, hey, what kind of remark is that? Are you really so _stupid_ as to underestimate an enemy purely on their size? Haha, I bet you guys get beat up regularly!" Marx giggled.

"What was that?!" Dedede shouted, his eyes narrowing in agitation. "You little..."

"Your Majesty, he's being insolent! Shall we have him removed?" The snail asked with an overly eager tone.

Dedede held up a hand, which he promptly used to smack the snail person with.

"Now wait just a second. I didn't pay for a useless shrimp like _you_! Either show me your worth or get out of my sight! I'll just complain to that Customer Service guy, because his service is _clearly_ lacking."

Marx put on an innocent face. "Oh, oh, but you'd be missing out, _King_. I'm more than capable of killing Kirby, and you too, you see! It would be easy, easy peasy! Easy as pie!"

And then the cosmic jester proceeded to will forth his wings, warping out of sight and appearing just behind the two with a giggle. He was tempted to summon his black hole, but that might have been kind of overkill, so instead he just tackled the snail guy, spun him around in the air and then flung him away with the force of a bullet, the poor scoundrel crashing face-first into the brick wall.

"De-" The King said, making a face as he jumped out of his seat. "Y-you'd better not lay a finger on me! I paid a lot to get you here, so show some respect and follow my orders! G-go take care of Kirby, right now!"

"Ugh..." The snail whimpered. "Your Majesty, I'm seeing stars...why is there two of you now? I can't handle two King!"

Marx laughed like a maniac.

"Okay!" He chirped. "But only because you asked so _nicely_. I won't be killing Kirby, though, because I'm not this _useless_ "Demon Beast" you keep yapping about. Haha, you should see your own faces right now! It was a good prank, right? _Right_?"

"What?! Why you- Then who are you, and what are you doing in my castle?! Get out! Out!"

"Hee hee hee hee! You poor idiots, you have no chance against Kirby, you know that? Have fun playing this cat and mouse chase you seem to be doing! See ya!"

Marx summoned a ball, kicked it at Dedede and then summoned another one to jump on, bouncing away like nothing had just taken place.

And as he left, he could clearly hear the distressed shout of Dedede as his ball exploded.

* * *

It was raining by the time Marx left Castle Dedede. The wind was a howling mess and the sky had been completely overtaken by dark and stormy clouds, the displeasing sound of thunder and lightning reverberating in the distance. In fact, if he strained his hearing, Marx could make out several startled shouts and cries penetrating the air like a sword beam, thus also being a great indicator of where Kirby and this Fumu person were located.

Kicking off from his ball and into the air, the purple puffball spun around and summoned his wings, taking to the skies as he set his sights on the commotion just ahead. Marx had a pretty good feeling about who this Demon Beast was, and if his assumption was correct, then this would be a literal _breeze_ for Kirby. The pink hero had taken on far worse beings than _Kracko_, so doing it again should be no problem. Heck, Marx probably didn't even have to lift a metaphorical finger. He didn't have any fingers, of course, but the point still stood.

As he neared, Marx spotted a certain pink figure running for his life, several deadly lightning bolts hitting the ground just as Kirby dodged them.

One lightning bolt. Two lightning bolts. Three lightning bolts. Back and forth they went.

The display was honestly kind of amusing, if it weren't for the fact one of those bolts aimed for him when he had gotten close enough.

"Rude..." Marx chided, frowning at the concealed Kracko. "If you do that again, I'll come up there and finish you off before Kirby even has a chance."

Kracko seemed to care not for any of his words.

Along his flight, the cosmic jester spotted a couple sitting in a completely vaporized car, the two of them smoking from head to toe due to a nasty blast of lightning. Marx laughed at their misery, loving the sight of their suffering expressions.

This was turning out to be a real treat.

As he flew through the village, Marx spotted several others having been unfortunate enough to get hit by Kracko's lightning, all of said people smoking and sitting in utter bewilderment, as if they couldn't believe what had just happened.

One shout after another was literal music to his ears, but he had somehow lost sight of Kirby while he amused himself by the sight of the townsfolk's misery.

"Drat. I gotta stay more focused than this." He mumbled to himself as he passed several more smoking buildings. Along the way, he heard two distinct voices, one of them being slightly familiar.

"Sis, where's Kirby?" The boy from before asked a slightly taller girl as he ran to her.

The girl looked at him with a distraught face.

"I lost him. He's definitely under that cloud somewhere."

Just then, King Dedede and that snail guy ran past them in a freaking _tank_, of all things. Marx whistled. His Dedede never owned such a thing, at least not to his knowledge. The two children quickly jumped out of the way, following the retreating tank with their eyes.

A few minutes passed when the tank returned full force, the two passengers being chased by Kracko's unrelenting lightning.

'_Oh, that must mean Kirby's somewhere in that tank.'_ Marx thought with amusement.

Fumu and her brother had been walking by the time Dedede passed them again, making them halt in their venture.

Marx decided to go greet them, but not before landing safely and retracting his wings. He didn't want to scare them off this early on, after all.

"Hey, you two. Looking for Kirby?" He questioned while he reluctantly looked up at them. Marx wasn't much bigger than Kirby himself, and these two kids were definitely taller than him. But again, this only gave him an advantage against people who underestimated him because of his height and cute looks.

"Oh, it's you again!" The boy shouted, pointing at him.

"Yep, it's me, Marx, your good pal!" He cheered with a sweet smile.

"Marx?" The girl – Fumu – asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "I've never seen you before. Where did you come from?" She asked, but then shook her head. "Wait, no, we don't have _time_ for questions, even if your sudden appearance is slightly weird!" She stated. "Bun, we have to find Kirby! He's probably still being chased by that Demon Beast!"

"I'll come too!" Marx announced as the two began to run, following just behind them.

Fumu looked over her shoulder to give him a quizzical look, but quickly left it at that when she deemed Kirby to be more important than her sudden suspicion.

As they ran, two other beings joined them – Lololo and Lalala. Marx paid them no mind even when they tried to greet him, staying focused on finding his friend to see how he would deal with Kracko.

"Kirby!" Fumu shouted. "Kirby!"

The others joined in on shouting the pink puffball's name, but to no avail.

They eventually slowed down to walk instead, and once they reached a small hill, the two siblings stopped walking completely. Marx stood behind them, waiting to see what they'd do or say.

"Kirby! Kirby!"

"Answer us!"

"It couldn't have gotten him..."

Marx giggled, and the two turned around to look at him strangely.

"What? _What_?" Marx giggled. "It's just, what you said is so funny! Kirby wouldn't get defeated by Kracko, of all things!"

Fumu's eyes widened. "Kracko? How do you know the Demon Beast's name?" Her eyes narrowed even further. "And for that matter, how do you know Kirby?"

She shook her head. "Lololo and Lalala, split up and search for him."

Lololo nodded while Lalala spoke. "He's probably hiding behind the rocks somewhere. We're sure to find him!"

As they passed Marx, they gave him an inquisitive look. Marx just gave them a smile in return, his huge purple eyes unblinking.

Fumu and her brother, whom Marx had learned was named Bun, turned back to look at him.

"You better answer my questions after we find Kirby and stop this Demon Beast, Marx. I don't know what's up with you, but I plan to find out."

"Jeez, lighten up!" Marx said, inwardly taking note of how this girl could, perhaps, see past his cute exterior. He didn't see her as a threat at all, but it was worth to stay cautious, at the very least.

They took off again, running in the opposite direction of Lololo and Lalala. Marx decided that, instead of following those two, he went to trail after the two floating beings, summoning his ball again and tap-tapping along.

As the two flying balls passed a small bridge, Marx caught a glimpse of something pink.

Bingo.

Bouncing over to Kirby, Marx greeted his friend.

"Hey, hey, hey. Kirby, what are you doing here, shivering like a leaf?" Marx asked as the puffball turned with a startle. "You should be up there by now, fighting that _lame_ Kracko, right?"

"Poyo..." Kirby said, his eyes sad and downcast.

"Oh...right. I completely forgot you're a baby right now." Marx chuckled nervously.

How young was this version of Kirby, exactly, to be this scared of an enemy?

"What." Marx then said, hopping off his ball and walking closer to his shivering friend. "Do you want me to take care of it then? I could easily destroy that stupid cloud for you."

It wasn't everyday Marx offered to help someone, but Kirby was a special case.

Said pink hero stopped shivering and narrowed his eyes determinedly, like a switch had suddenly been pressed.

"Poyo poyo!" He stated resolutely, pointing at the dark clouds circling them.

"You wanna take care of it yourself? Hey, hey, I'm up for that! It's more like you to be brave, you know?" Marx shrugged with his left foot. "But I could still help, just saying."

"Poyo!" Kirby cheered, waddling over to give him another hug. Marx let him this time, even though he still couldn't _stand_ physical touch. He stood there awkwardly, and then broke the hug off before his friend was probably ready to let go.

"Yeah, yeah, that's great and all, but Kracko is still up there, and it's _still_ after your hide."

Kirby let out another determined "Poyo!", and then ran out from under the bridge like a warrior ready to face his toughest challenge yet.

Just as he did, the voice of Bun could be heard shouting.

"Don't do it, Kirby!"

Marx followed after his pink friend, briefly glancing up at the yellow boy on the bridge.

"Give him more credit, will you?" He said, unimpressed by this child downright babying a so-called _Star Warrior_.

"Marx?!" Bun cried out.

"Yep! And unlike you, I'm here to be helpful!" He jeered while giggling.

Kirby had by then almost been blasted by several lightning strikes, running as fast as his little feet could take him. He then found shelter in a small hole, once again hiding away from his enemy.

Marx watched this with slight pity clouding his vision. Back on the Popstar he was familiar with, Kirby was actually slightly older than Marx, but here it seemed to be reversed. He didn't recall ever signing up for _babysitting_.

"Kirby, can't you inhale that cloud?" Bun asked.

"That's right, instead of running away, why not try?" Lalala added.

Kirby looked down, his expression sad and lost.

"It's all right!" Bun exclaimed. "You can do it."

Oh, this was so very _pitiful_.

Marx trudged over to the pink puffball and positioned himself right in front of him. If he had been born with arms, Marx would have crossed them right at that moment.

"Kirby, don't try that _stupid_ idea." He began, sparing Bun a look. "You can't inhale the clouds from this distance, much less Kracko! There are just some enemies you _can't_ inhale. You should know that, hey, hey!"

"At least it's better than doing nothing!" Bun shouted.

"Yeah, but it'll also be completely _pointless_. Plus Kirby would be at Kracko's mercy, and what good would a _roasted_ Kirby be?"

"You don't know that!"

Kirby watched their immature argument with his eyes. Back and forth, back and forth. Eventually, the little puffball decided for himself, going with Bun's idea. Marx supposed it made sense, seeing as he had nothing else he could do, and Kirby wasn't one to stand still for long (unless he was napping, of course). That, and Marx was still a stranger to the hero, even if said hero did seem fond of him.

Pushing past the jester and his friend Bun, the young Star Warrior began to utilize his inhale ability in and attempt to suck up the clouds and revealing his enemy.

Marx sighed and watched as Kirby was almost struck by lightning again, running away while Dedede and the snail guy chased him.

God, this was taking too long.

Marx jumped up and brought forth his wings, heading into the clouds to confront Kracko himself. The spiky cloud with its one eye stared blankly at him, and Marx giggled while he neared his enemy. Once he had gotten close enough, Marx split himself in two symmetrical halves, the two parts of his body parting in opposite ways to form a gaping, all-consuming black hole that sucked in anything within its vicinity.

Needless to say, Kracko took extensive damage, and after dodging a few lightning bolts thrown his way, Marx finished it off with an uppercut, his wings cutting Kracko in half and causing it to explode in a fancy display of lightning.

And with it, the dark and foreboding clouds also dispersed, making way for Dream Land's sunny rays to once again grace Pupupu Land.

Kirby neared him on his Warp Star, looking beyond confused.

Marx stared back.

"What? You were taking too long."

"poyo?"

"You can have the next one, okay? No need to sulk."

"Poyo poyo!"

Okay, Kirby was definitely sulking.

As they lowered themselves to the ground, Fumu, Bun, Lololo, Lalala and Meta Knight neared them.

The latter seemed mighty bemused, despite his usual mask covering any expressions he could have worn.

"You." The Knight said. "State your name and business here in Pupupu Land."

"I'm Marx!" He smiled, his fangs visible for everyone to see.

"And I'm here to visit Kirby, my _best friend_."


	4. Change of Plans

Marx did not expect Meta Knight to be the one to answer his last remark. Instead, the jester's eyes turned to look at Fumu, who had been eyeing him with a look of utter disbelief from the moment he landed.

What Marx expected was for the girl to answer in the masked knight's stead – the blue puffball in question just stared on, as silent as ever. His sharp gaze cut through him like knives, the yellow color of his eyes briefly flashing orange before settling on a shimmering green. Marx was surprised by this unnatural change, for he had yet to see Meta Knight's eyes change color like that. It honestly surprised him.

So when it _was_ Meta Knight who ended up breaking the tense silence that had fallen upon them, Marx felt his head spinning from confusion by the time his gaze resettled on the knight. Meta Knight's eyes had returned to their usual yellow hue by now.

"You're one of Kirby's friends?" He began, his tone calm and collected – it revealed absolutely nothing to anyone who would search for hidden meanings within his words. It was one of the many things that really annoyed Marx about the knight, and his mask only added to this so-called mysticism he kept up. Talk about being paranoid.

"Yep." Was his clipped answer.

"I find that hard to believe." Meta Knight stated. "But let me humor you for a bit. If you are indeed who you claim to be, then I ask you; how?"

"How?"

Meta Knight nodded. "How can you know of someone who was 'born' only four days prior to him landing on this planet?"

"Err..." The cosmic jester quickly wracked his brain for a plausible excuse. Now would be a good time to make use of his high intellect and analytical skills.

It didn't take him long to find an answer.

"Hey, hey. Look, you said it yourself. Kirby's only been here for a couple of days, and I've been here for one! That doesn't mean we can't be friends though, right? Kirby makes friends quickly, and with everyone, too."

Marx then turned to Kirby, the little pink puffball watching him with a curious expression.

"Kirby, we're friends, right?"

"Poyo?" Kirby said, tilting his head.

Then he smiled brightly.

"Poyo! Marx poyo!" The little puffball cheered, sounding very proud that he remembered his name.

Marx turned back around with a smug expression.

"See? Kirby says we're friends! He must be friends with you guys too then."

Meta Knight seemed very unsatisfied with this answer, his eyes briefly landing on Kirby.

"Friends with everyone...was it?" The knight muttered, his gaze returning to Marx. "Very well. I hope for your sake that you'll behave. Kirby has a lot of allies, like you just confirmed."

And with that the blue masked puffball spun around and took his leave, his dark cape billowing behind him as he vanished from sight. Marx knew he was able to disappear this quickly due to the guy's teleportation, and he wondered how many knew of that skill here. It seemed like this version of Meta Knight held more secrets than the one he had gotten used to.

Fumu narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. She looked just about ready to blast him off with more questions, her need for answers so great it looked like she would explode at any given moment.

"Now hold on!" She began while trudging closer, her little brother following close behind – Lololo and Lalala too. "Meta Knight might not seem to care, but I do! Your arrival here is really suspicious! Where did you come from? Who are you? Why did you come here? And why Kirby? Why Pupupu Land? Why _now_?!" She breathed, having spoken all of that in one go.

"Yeah!" Lalala said.

"You look strange too. I've never seen someone like you before!" Lololo added.

Marx giggled. "Hey, hey, hey. Calm down! Your friend Marx here will answer _aaaaall_ of your questions, because I'm just that _nice_."

Never mind the fact that every answer he would give would be complete and utter lies. No one needed to know where he came from, least of all _why_ – that situation was honestly kind of embarrassing too, like how would that conversation even go?

'_Hey, hey, hey. I pranked another version of Kirby in an alternative universe, and the result landed me here and now I'm stranded and can't get back. Oh and I also plan on taking over your world, tee hee!'_

Yeah right.

"You better." Fumu said.

"Poyo poyo!"

Marx looked at Kirby with a deadpan expression. "Well jeez, thanks Kirby. I'm glad you're on my side."

"Just answer my sis' questions, Marx!" Bun shouted.

The purple jester's eye twitched. He owed these people nothing; absolutely _nothing_. When he got around to taking over this pathetic version of Popstar, he would make them all his servants, doing his bidding while dancing like monkeys in a maid's uniform. Marx giggled again, which only earned him more weird looks.

Oh well, he would answer that nosy girl's questions for the sole sake of staying as unsuspicious as possible. That way he was free to do whatever he'd like without someone constantly breathing down his neck. He supposed that's what Meta Knight would be doing, albeit indirectly. He seemed surprisingly protective of Kirby here, from what Marx could gather.

"Okay, get ready for a boring tale by yours truly." Marx cleared his throat. "Question number one; I came from space, like Kirby." He bounced a bit. "Question number two; I'm Marx!" He cheered. "Question number three; I came here to see the sights, like a tourist or whatever. Question number four; I met Kirby by his house and befriended him, that's why. Question number five; I chose Pupupu Land because it's a nice little place. Plus this _is_ called Dream Land, so why the heck not?" He shrugged with his left foot. "And finally, question number six – jeez, you really know how to keep them coming, don't you? Anyway, _why now_? C'mon, that's like asking 'why were you born on your birthday?'. I chose now because I had the time, silly!"

Marx felt extremely satisfied with his own aversions – not a single thing he just said truly answered anything, which was the whole point to begin with.

From the expression currently gracing her face, Fumu looked like she realized this too. Clever girl.

Marx summoned a ball and jumped onto it, feeling more comfortable at this level of height. Fumu huffed and turned her head away, her eyes closed in what appeared to be exasperation.

"Fine." She said, opening one eye. "At least you don't seem like a bad guy, or a Demon Beast. I guess I'll back off and believe you...for now."

Easy. Way too easy. These people were so very soft – and thus also easier to break. Marx had a feeling this Fumu was wary and cautious by nature, but also open and kindhearted – she probably expected them to become friends too, or something equally foolish. Let her have her dreams.

"But how did you defeat that Demon Beast from before? The way you took it down seemed so _effortless_, while Kirby was having such trouble! Are you a Star Warrior too?"

"Yep, in a sense." Marx nodded.

"In a sense…?"

"Yep!"

Fumu stared. Marx stared back, unblinking.

"I won't get any more answers from you, will I?"

Marx just smiled.

Fumu sighed. "Just behave and we'll get along fine."

After an awkward silence, Bun added his own comment.

"Hmm...I guess if sis is okay with you, then so am I! Marx, do you play football?"

"Poyo, poyo!" Kirby cheered, apparently wishing to play this 'football' game too.

"Nope!" Marx said. "But if it involves a ball, then I'm game."

"Poyo!"

"Wait!" Fumu exclaimed, stopping the three of them before they could start a round of football.

"Ahem." She cleared her throat. "Allow me to introduce myself first. I'm the Cabinet Minister's daughter, Fumu."

"Oh, right!" Bun said. "And I'm her little brother, Bun!"

"And we're Lololo and Lalala!" The two floating beings said in unison.

Marx kind of forgot those two were still there. They had been so quiet this whole time.

The cosmic jester nodded. "And you all know me as Marx!" He giggled.

Fumu smiled, apparently feeling satisfied with their greetings. She walked over to a nearby tree, and with a sigh she sat down and enjoyed the day, watching as her brother, Marx and Kirby played.

Marx was fine with having a little fun for the time being, especially after that long session of Q & A. He would visit the Library later on, to gain some much needed information.

Right now, though, he had a ball game to conquer.

* * *

Marx left the other three children by the time afternoon rolled around, and at the moment he was tap-tapping away on his ball, his next destination the Library. The jester had already memorized the way from his scouting earlier on, so getting there was no problem. It was a good thing too, because Marx did not like wasting any time he could use on either mischief, pranks, beating enemies or making his dream come true.

The Library itself was more of a bookstore, but the place also held a basement filled to the brim with books crammed into rows upon rows of bookshelves– from fiction to non-fiction. One could also find a lot of information and resource material there, selected by Biblio himself. If you had a library card, you could even borrow books to take home with you.

Marx learned all of this from Biblio, whom he was currently speaking to.

"So you're saying I can borrow as many books as I'd like? And study down in the basement too?" The jester asked eagerly, looking up at the Cappy with those huge eyebrows and mustache.

Biblio nodded. "Yes, indeed. As long as you return them in due time, of course. And the basement is free for everyone to use. I must say, it is so very refreshing to see another young person so interested in the written world of literature."

"Yep! I'm totally studious." Marx agreed just for the heck of it. As long as he could get what he wanted, he'd let this man believe whatever he fancied.

"I'm glad to hear that. Stay as long as you'd like and help yourself to the books downstairs. If you want to become a member, I can offer you a library card."

"Maybe later. Thanks!" Marx said, and then hurried past the man and down the stairs.

The basement was relatively large, and several tables and chairs had been set up so one could rest while reading.

Perfect.

Marx went over to the history section and skimmed through the large collection of books.

'_The Extensive History of Pupupu Land'_. Nah, sounded boring.

'_Dyna Blade and Her Awakening'_. Psh, no thanks.

'_Pupu Village's Origins – A History'_. Again, boring.

Marx had no use for this town's trivia and history. His plan was to take over all of Popstar, not just this small place. But then again, knowledge _could_ be useful in certain situations...He eyed the books a second time and shrugged with a foot.

Maybe another time.

It was funny, really, how fast his objective had changed from wanting to return to his own universe, to taking over this new one.

After an extensive search, Marx finally found what he was looking for – more or less. Near the end of the last bookshelf, the purple puffball came across two very special titles.

'_Universal Rumors and Secrets'_ and _'Defenders of the Galaxy'_.

'_How very interesting.'_ Marx thought as he picked them up with his mouth, careful not to ruin the books with his teeth or saliva.

Then he started pushing them forward until he arrived at a bean chair and a small coffee table, and he promptly made himself comfortable.

Time to get ahead of the crowd.

* * *

Marx spend two whole days down there, pouring over the large tomes like his life depended on it. They turned out not only to be riddled with valuable knowledge, but also extremely fascinating as well. He pretty much lost his sense of time down in that basement, and it was only when his gnawing hunger arose did he realize how much time had passed. No one else had visited the basement while he studied, which Marx preferred anyway, but he wondered what Kirby and the others had been up to while he was gone.

They probably thought Marx had left for good or something. Heh, what a surprise he would give them – in more ways than one.

He eyed the two finished books lying before him.

"A galactic war, huh…?" Marx muttered as he went over what he had learned. "This Nightmare guy sounds like a real pain in the ass, but not _unbeatable_. If he tries to take over Popstar before I do, then I'll just have to kill him first, easy peasy!"

Marx nodded to himself. "Yep, Marx is gonna kill him, heeheeheehee!"

If someone asked Marx why he did the things he did, Marx would answer that he didn't know. Did he even _need_ a reason when he was naturally inclined to do whatever pleased him? Destruction and suffering just so happened to be among those pleasing things, you see.

Marx was allowed to dream too, after all. So what if his dreams were slightly different from most people? That didn't make him any less normal, just your typical villain. Why should the 'good guys' be the only ones to dream?

It didn't matter, as long as he had fun. Fun and power. Fun and power and complete control.

Okay, so maybe he had no reason at all. Still perfectly valid though.

Yep, Marx was perfectly valid.

"I should probably get something to eat..." He said to himself, realizing how strange his thoughts had become. Then he immediately thought the opposite, telling his own mind that he had every right to think such things.

As he left the Library, the cosmic jester continued to ponder on the contents of those books. He had learned quite a lot from them, and some of the texts told various tales and stories about the ongoing war. Meta Knight was apparently one of the only Star Warriors to survive a direct confrontation with Nightmare's horde of beasts...It was amazing, really, how those Demon Beasts could wipe out an entire galaxy army such as the GSA. Amazing and oh so very pathetic.

Another thing he had gathered was that this Nightmare dude – weird name to choose for yourself – had taken over almost all of the universe by now, which was kind of a bummer.

It was okay, though. Marx would leave him in the dust and laugh in his face with his next brilliant plan. In order for him to execute this newly formed scheme, though, Marx would have to find Nightmare first – and thanks to the contents of the other book, the one titled _'Universal Rumors and Secrets'_, Marx had a pretty good idea where to start.

He giggled uncontrollably, gaining a few odd looks from the passersby.

"This is so much fun!" He laughed, bouncing up and down as he skipped through town and over to Kirby's house.

* * *

Kirby wasn't home, but that bird named Tokkori was. Marx briefly considered blasting him again, but he kind of figured he could use the guy to find his little pink friend.

"Hey, hey, hey." Marx began as he stood before the bird. "Where's Kirby?"

"Shhh!" The bird shushed, his eyes glued to a screen displaying King Dedede stomping on a doll that vaguely resembled Kirby. "Puhahahaha!" The bird laughed.

Marx blinked at the display, but then kicked the bird away from the screen to inspect it more carefully.

"What's this?" He demanded.

Tokkori whimpered as he got up. Then he flew up in the air and circled the jester.

"Hey, knock it off! This is the second time you've hurt me, you- you _brute_!" So said the bird.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Hmph!" Tokkori looked away from Marx. "Why should someone such as I tell you anything?"

Marx gave him a bright smile. "That's okay, I can always just hurt you again!"

"N-now wait just a second here, you-" Tokkori shrieked when Marx summoned a ball, ducking behind the strange box showing Dedede doing weird things. "Okay, okay already! This is something called a television, provided by King Dedede himself – for free! It broadcasts stuff, as you see, like commercials and movies and stuff. It's pretty funny."

Marx nodded while he watched the screen change to a Dedede commercial.

"And Dedede is using this to brainwash people into hating Kirby?"

"I-what?" Tokkori questioned.

"What?" Marx repeated. "Hey, it's pretty obvious that's what he's doing. Isn't it?"

"N-not like I care or anything." The bird huffed. "What are you even doing in my _house_?"

Marx had almost forgotten, getting distracted like that. "Oh, right! I'm looking for Kirby. Have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't seen Pinky. Go look somewhere else, will you?"

"Sure, okay." Marx said, walking out of the door now that the bird was useless again.

The sun was slowly setting and the moon was getting ready to take up the mantle for the night. The stars shone brightly, almost invitingly, and the peace and quiet went undisturbed. Marx realized almost no one roamed the streets, and when he looked into some of the villagers' windows, all he saw was people watching this television thing that had apparently become a huge trend while he was away.

Still no sign of Kirby though.

Not even twenty minutes later where he still couldn't find Kirby, a whole horde of villagers came rushing after a distraught little puffball, his friend running for his dear life as the angry people drove him out of their village with…

Pitchforks and torches? _Really_?

Marx summoned his wings and flew after them. Then he swooped up his startled friend and brought him along for the ride, heading towards the tyrant king's castle.

"Marx poyo?" Kirby questioned from atop Marx's head.

"Hey Kirby, ready to put a stop to whatever this is? I've got some business with Dedede anyway, so I was heading to his castle myself."

"Poyo?"

"No, I will _not_ pick up Fumu and Bun on the way."

"Poyo poyo!"

"Whoops, we're already here!" Marx giggled. "Too late."

Kirby began chatting excitedly as the two of them navigated through the castle in search of Dedede, having to avoid the detection of several Waddle Dees along the way.

"Poyo poyo, poyo poyo poyo!" Kirby said.

"Hey, hey. You went on a picnic without me? Oh, hehe, that reminds me!" He turned to his friend once they stopped around a corner. "Kirby, remind me to eat something after this, okay? Thanks!"

"Poyo!" Kirby nodded, and then patted his own stomach.

"Yep, I'm famished too." Marx agreed.

After turning several other corners – the purple jester's frustration rising for each second they spent looking – Meta Knight suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere. He walked briskly over to them, nodding at Kirby – who was greeting the knight with happiness – and then turned his gaze to Marx.

"Fumu told me she saw you carry Kirby here. It appears she was right." He said. "I have relieved the Waddle Dees of their duty, so should you head down to the basement, you might find what you are looking for."

Then Meta Knight left again, like he was just a passing breeze carrying a message.

"Great! Let's go, Kirby!" Marx cheered.

* * *

Exposing King Dedede and his goon – who he found out was named Escargoon – was beyond easy. Sure, they got trapped behind bars at one point, but Marx quickly cut through them with his four sharp crescent blades. Kirby helped too by inhaling most of the equipment and burying the king and his goon underneath the rubble.

Fumu and Bun had joined them as well, and the rest was history.

Just as they were about to leave, Marx turned around to relay a message to the downed king.

"Hey, hey, hey! Dedede, tell this Nightmare guy I said hi!" Marx giggled.

This would do. Getting Nightmare's attention would be the first step to his plan. The rest would come in small bite sizes. Yep, one step at a time.

It would be perfect.


	5. One Day

King Dedede rushed over to his hovering throne chair, his pace brisk and determined. Plopping down on his seat, the penguin fumed. His mind kept replaying that humiliating scene that just took place down in the basement like some kind of broken replay button, and it only managed to further infuriate him.

"Pah! How dare that insolent little friend of Kirby's ruin my genius television scheme?! I almost had the villagers chase that pink menace out of my village!"

He slammed his fist down on the armrest, since Escargoon wasn't present at the moment.

"I'll show him not to mess with the King of this land!"

Dedede brought forth the button that summoned his widescreen and the rest of the technologically advanced gadgets that followed – the necessary stuff to transfer Demon Beasts and such. After several seconds of whirring and humming, the Customer Service's smiling face blinked into existence, ready to take his next order. Dedede was determined to purchase the strongest, most horrible Beast he could get his hands on, and this time its target wasn't going to be Kirby.

"Dededede..." The king snickered.

"My, you seem to be in good spirits today, Your Majesty." Customer Service informed him.

Dedede scoffed. "Yeah, well I'm not. I've got another little _pest_ to get rid of."

"Oh?" The service man quirked an eyebrow.

Dedede nodded. "So you better get me something useful this time! Not one of those weak little beasts that can't even handle someone like Kirby!"

"With all due respect." The man on the screen began, his smile still very much fake. "You haven't paid your fees yet for your last several purchases, and so I regret to inform you that I can't be of service to you until you do."

"What?! You loan sharks..."

"Our corporation values payment as much as we value our customers, Your Majesty."

Dedede had no choice but to weigh his options. On one hand, the penguin could pay the man and get it over with, which would also allow him to buy other Demon Beasts in the near future. On the other hand, Dedede could rely on his own wit and intelligence, getting rid of that purple child the traditional way.

Dedede reluctantly chose the first option.

"Fine!" He shouted, waving a fist in the air. "I'll pay you, but then you better get me the _best_ of the best."

The Customer Service's smile widened. "But of course. You know our vast collection of Beasts is sure to have one that will suit your needs. We run this business with pride, you see."

"Yeah, yeah. Just get on with it." Dedede sneered.

"If I may be so bold to ask; who is this Demon Beast's intended target?"

"Oh, right. I almost forgot to relay that little pipsqueak's message..."

The strange-looking man's interest seemed to be piqued at that moment, for his smile dropped for just a second before returning full-force.

"My, a message? Now who could have a message for me?"

Dedede shrugged. "Not you, but your boss, Nightmare. The little guy just told me he said 'hi'. Can you believe the gall of that guy? Demanding a King to do his bidding." The monarch fumed again.

"...And what was the name of this person who sends his regards?" Customer Service asked with a careful tone, his smile still unchanged.

"Marx, I think. Something along those lines." Dedede said. "He's gotten in my way three times now, so I won't stand for it any longer!"

Customer Service suddenly choked on his own spit. Dedede watched on with confused amusement as the man struggled to breathe, and when he finally regaining his breath, he righted himself and adjusted his tie like nothing had happened.

Now this was interesting. Dedede hadn't seen this guy react so strongly to a mere name before.

'_Who is this Marx anyway? And where did he come from?'_ The king thought.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty." The salesman said with a cough. "But I must have heard incorrectly. Did you perhaps say Marx?"

"Are ya deaf? Yeah, I said Marx!" Dedede shouted.

There was a brief silence as the screen glitched for a moment. Then Customer Service's smiling face reappeared as soon as it had disappeared.

"I see. How very interesting." The man chuckled. "King Dedede, I am afraid I can't send you a Demon Beast to eradicate this foe. My Boss...requires his presence as soon as possible, so it would be in your best interest to relay this message back to Marx." The Customer Service's face darkened. "Should you refuse...then I'm afraid we can no longer be of use to you."

Dedede startled. "What?! You can't do that!"

"Oh but we can."

"Grr, then what if I pay you extra?!"

"No can do, Your Majesty."

Dedede was at a loss for what to do. Never before had he been denied anything, least of all a Demon Beast (unless his fee was due, of course). If he had been in another state of mind, the penguin might have contemplated what this all meant, but instead his anger rose and he only abhorred that little purple ball all the more. It seemed like that pest was determined to be a thorn in his side – in more ways than one.

'_How dare he oppose me...' _The king thought bitterly.

"Fine." Dedede eventually relented. "But I'm not giving up on getting rid of him. I'll just do it _myself_ then, see if I care about your Demon Beasts! Pah!"

"But you _will_ relay our message, correct?"

"Sure, whatever." Dedede waved him off.

"Great! It has been a pleasure doing business with you, King Dedede."

The connection broke off after that. Dedede sat in the now darkened room, alone with his thoughts.

"Waddle Dee!" He shouted, and as soon as the words had left his mouth, one scurried into the room and stopped just before Dedede with a salute.

He looked down at it. "Go fetch Meta Knight for me. I've got a message for him to relay."

The Waddle Dee hurried out again in search of the knight.

* * *

Meta Knight immediately teleported away from the door leading to the room his majesty was in, and then he proceeded to walk calmly back with an air of someone who had business to tend to in that particular direction. His stoic appearance spoke nothing of the internal distress he was currently experiencing, his mind running a mile per hour as he poured over the new information he had secretly gathered.

Meta Knight had known from the beginning that something was off with Marx, and this sudden development only further supported his now completely rational suspicion. That jester couldn't be trusted, not when he had a connection to Nightmare, of all people. Was he a Demon Beast? If so, what was his end goal? To destroy Kirby and take over Popstar, or to lure the Star Warrior away from the planet and take him as a captive?

The possibilities were endless…

The knight had to warn Kirby, and Fumu as well. She was a bright girl, and could easily see past the cute exterior this sudden new threat used like a weapon. They would deal with it accordingly, before anything truly bad could happen.

Then again, perhaps Meta Knight was reading too much into this. He would have to hold back his paranoia and go about this in a calm and collected way, because that was usually how he achieved the best possible outcome to any problem he might come across.

The Waddle Dee that had been assigned to fetch him appeared right as he rounded the corner.

"What is it?" He asked, feigning ignorance once the Waddle Dee beckoned for him.

The Waddle Dee conveyed its silent message, and Meta Knight nodded.

"King Dedede requires my presence? I see. I shall take my leave then." He added curtly.

As he left for the room his majesty resided in, Meta Knight couldn't help but clutch Galaxia tightly, as if an enemy lurked right behind the door. He pushed it open and entered, taking in the sight of an irritated looking King Dedede.

"Your Majesty." Meta Knight said, gaining the penguin's attention. "You required my presence?"

"There you are, Meta Knight. Took you long enough!"

"Forgive me." Was all the knight said.

"I'll have you know that this mission I am about to send you on is extremely important! You _must_ do as I say, Meta Knight, so prove your usefulness by telling that Marx guy Nightmare wants to meet him."

Meta Knight tightened his grip on Galaxia. That blasted name…

"Your Majesty." He said, his voice sounding slightly strained. "Forgive my insolence, but why do you need me to do this? Surely a mere servant such as I isn't allowed to know of your business with Nightmare?"

Everyone knew he was behind the Demon Beast attacks, but not much could be done about it – for now, at least.

"Sure, sure. That information is highly classified, but you now have a once in a lifetime chance to prove your worth once and for all." Dedede snickered. "So take this knowledge and be useful with it. My _entire_ business with Nightmare is at stake here!"

"...And what would prevent me from not relaying your message? That would rid us of the Demon Beast problem, Your Majesty." Meta Knight stated calmly.

"De-" The penguin startled, not having thought about that from the looks of it. "Y-you'll do as I say, or I'll have to exile you for your disobedience!"

Meta Knight bowed. "As you wish, Your Majesty."

"Oh, and tell Escargoon to get here immediately!"

"At once, Sir."

Meta Knight left, his cape billowing behind him.

* * *

"Hey, hey! Kirby, did you find any food yet?"

"Poyo..."

"What, you didn't?" Marx giggled. "Well, that's pretty useless, isn't it?"

"Poyo poyo!" Kirby scolded, wiggling his nubby arms in front of the purple jester.

Marx swatted him away with a foot. "Relax," He said. "We'll just have to find something together then, no problem!"

"Poyo!" Kirby cheered.

Both of them were sitting on the floor in Kirby's house, although the pink puffball had only just returned from his food gathering escapee – without the food, of course, which left them at their current predicament.

"What about the watermelon fields?" Marx offered.

"Poyo?" Kirby said, a smile forming on his face. "Poyo!"

Marx gave a smile of his own, although his looked a bit more deranged than his friend's.

"Then it's settled. Let's go raid-"

Just then, a huge gust of wind blew in through the window and hurled the two of them aside, Marx hitting the opposite wall with a startled shriek. Kirby flapped his arms like a bird, trying to stop from being sucked out of the window, but wasn't having much luck. As his friend vanished from sight, Marx was unfortunate enough to still be in the house by the time it lifted from the ground and tumbled away, the strong winds lifting it like it weighed nothing.

When the house finally landed – upside down to boot – Marx flung the bed sheets that covered him away. He blinked at the complete and utter chaos around him.

"Wow..." He said. "What the heck was _that_?"

"Poyo!" A distressed Kirby shouted from outside. "Marx poyo!"

"I'm okay Kirby!" The jester shouted back. "But seriously, what just happened?"

He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Leaving the more or less destroyed house behind, Marx noticed the whole area around them had been subjugated to those unnatural winds as well. The ground had several barren spots that looked like a tornado had passed through the area, and the grass seemed to have literally been ripped out. The distant sound of crying made its way to Marx's ears like music.

The cosmic jester couldn't care less about all of this, especially since he was still hungry. He turned around to look at a confused Kirby.

"Let's go eat those watermelons while everyone's distracted by..._whatever_ just happened!" He cheered, summoning his ball to balance on.

Without waiting for a reply, Marx tap-tapped away, his destination those cultivated fields bearing the fruits of someone's hard work. Marx could see his friend following behind him in his peripheral vision, and he couldn't help but smirk. This would probably land Kirby in a lot of trouble – not him, of course, because Marx would just blame his gluttonous friend. He was sure everyone would believe him too.

Once there, Marx summoned his wings and wasted no time in cutting several of the watermelons into four equal halves, which he was able to do with the help of his crescent-shaped blades, of course. That attack was pretty handy outside of battle, too.

Being the smart person that he definitely was, Marx then gathered all of the pieces with his wings and teleported back to the upturned house, and then he left said pieces on the ground to enjoy in just a moment. It wouldn't do to eat back in the fields, because anyone could walk by and spot him in his thievery act. So instead he chose to put one of his many skills to use.

By the time he warped back to the fields to fetch his friend, though, Kirby was nowhere to be seen. All that he spotted was an angry gathering of those yellow people standing around while lamenting the loss of their crops. Marx took one good look at the ruined fields and giggled.

It would seem that Kirby helped himself to a few watermelons while Marx was gone, which indeed landed him in trouble, just like he had predicted.

"Oh! Marx!" Fumu shouted, having spotted him hovering above the fields. "What are you doing here? Looking for Kirby?"

"Yep!" Marx nodded.

"Sorry, you just missed him. He ate all of those watermelons, that glutton!" Bun shouted, pointing at the mess he and Kirby had made.

"Yeah, I can see that, hehehe!" Marx giggled again.

"Uhh, well, we gotta go now, Marx. We have to find Kirby before he does anything else he isn't supposed to!" Fumu added, turning around to leave. Bun followed close behind his determined sister, sparing the purple puffball a questioning look.

"You coming?" He asked.

Marx shook his head. "Nope! Not yet, at least. Gotta do something first. I'll join you guys later on, okay?"

Bun shrugged. "Sure, okay."

Warping in and out of existence again, Marx found himself back at Kirby's dome-shaped house, and his next course of action was to enjoy a much-needed lunch break. Much to his extreme frustration, however, Marx only managed to eat one of those savory watermelons before someone not entirely unexpected showed up.

"I have a message for you." Meta Knight said as he entered the upside-down house. He spared the watermelon pieces one glance before returning his gaze on Marx, who now had a frown upon his face instead of his trademark cute smile.

"Oh?" Marx feigned ignorance, his voice dripping with fake cheer. He kind of wanted to hurt Meta Knight for disrupting his lunch. "You have a message for little old me? Hey, hey, hey! Tell me, then, Meta Knight!"

Meta Knight nodded. "King Dedede has ordered me to relay a message from..._Nightmare_." He said, the name being spoken with pure contempt, although his masked face betraying nothing. "The Holy Nightmare Corporation requires your presence. How you'll do that is of no concern of mine, but listen closely."

With a swift motion, Meta Knight drew his golden sword and brandished it with profession, the tip of the blade mere inches away from a now smiling Marx. Meta Knight flipped his cape back, his eyes briefly flashing red before returning to yellow.

"You should have no business with someone like Nightmare, Marx. You have no idea who you are dealing with. I can't be certain, but I know you are trouble. I won't let you lay a finger on Kirby."

Marx giggled. "Oh, but I'm allowed to mess with Popstar, right? As long as I don't hurt _Kirby._ Hehehehe!"

Meta Knight's sword lowered slightly. "Bringing harm to Popstar will make you an enemy of not only I, but Kirby as well. Whatever you are planning, it won't work. You working with Nightmare will only bring you doom."

Marx scoffed. "Sure, whatever, _Star Warrior_."

Meta Knight startled. "What? How do you-"

"Hehehehe, I read it in a book a few days ago! I must say, you really _suck_ at being a defender of the galaxy. How weak is the GSA, to lose as badly as you did? You must feel pretty bad, being one of the _only_ survivors, right? Haha, you should have died along with them – that's probably what you're thinking!"

Marx ducked just before Meta Knight's sword could cut him in half, giggling all the while.

"You have _no_ idea what you're talking about." Meta Knight said with a slight hint of true anger, and then he turned around and left without another word.

Marx stared as he left, and then went back to eating his watermelons. It wasn't _his_ problem Meta Knight had a stick up his ass.

"This is great!" He cheered. "I _knew_ Nightmare would take my bait! And all because his precious _Demon Beast_ has seemingly come back from the dead, hehehe!"

He left one of the watermelon pieces untouched, deciding that he would share one with Kirby. It would make the little one happy, for sure, and a happy Kirby was more useful than a sulking one.

"I'll just have to figure out how to contact him." Marx shrugged with a foot. "Hmm, I know Dedede has that screen he uses to order those Demon Beasts...I guess another trip to his castle is in order, but...maybe later."

For now, Marx had a friend to find.

* * *

Marx thought it would have been funnier if Kirby actually ate Dyna Blade's chick. But _noooo_, he just _had_ to raise it instead. Kirby of the Stars, forever destined to be the Hero everyone loved and worshipped.

Or, at least, that's how it was supposed to be. Here though, it seemed as if the villagers weren't all too fond of the pink puffball, which was surprising. Marx guessed it must have been due to Kirby being a baby – and as a baby he was likely more inclined to cause trouble for those around him.

This was actually perfect, in a way. Marx could use this wavering distrust between Kirby and the villagers when the time was right.

But for now, the cosmic jester just watched as Kirby left with the villagers, waving goodbye to the retreating Dyna Blade and her chick.

Cute. And also _boring_.

Marx flung a ball at the chick and sent it blasting into its mother with a startled cry, and festive confetti showered its prone form as a bonus.

The sight made him laugh hysterically.

"Marx!" He heard Fumu and several others shout.

"Whoops, I've got an appointment with myself, so see ya!"

Marx turned to look at Kirby just as Dyna Blade let out an enraged cry, her enormous wings already getting ready to blast him away.

"Hey, hey, hey." He said. "See ya at your house, Kirby. I saved something for you!"

And then he flew away like his life depended on it.

* * *

Back at the house, Marx waited for Kirby to arrive. It didn't take too long, thankfully, when his heroic friend floated into the open door and sat on the roof of the still upside-down house.

"Poyo?" Kirby asked once he landed before the jester.

"Here." Marx replied, and then he proceeded to kiss his friend, effectively sharing the last bit of the watermelon he had saved for Kirby. He didn't like touch in general, but food sharing was okay.

"Poyo-_mph_?!" His little friend began, but was cut off when he received his share of the watermelon.

The surprising gesture made the pink puffball swallow the piece reflexively. Then he turned to look at Marx with a funny expression. Marx laughed.

"Hahahaha, you should see your own face!" He jeered. "What's the matter, Kirby? Never shared food before? That's odd, considering you're the one who started that trend!"

"Poyo?" Kirby still looked very much confused.

"Whatever. Sharing food is just a custom I've gotten used to. It heals you up pretty nicely, so be grateful I saved a piece for you!"

"Poyo..." Kirby began. "Poyo!"

The jester nodded. "Yeah, yeah. You're welcome. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to Pop Flowers I guess. Oh, and I'll also teach you how to talk, because your 'Poyos' are getting kind of repetitive."

"T-talk?" Kirby said, trying valiantly to imitate the word Marx had just spoken.

"Oh hey, would you look at that!" The jester nodded his head. "You're a smart one, huh?"

"Poyo! Marx poyo!"

"Yep, that's my name." Marx said, and then he smiled widely, his fangs showing.

"And it's also the name everyone will fear one day."


	6. The Deal

"So, see here?" Marx questioned, gesturing towards the white pop flower before them.

There weren't many of them around these parts, but Marx had managed to find one after searching for way longer than he thought it was worth. He was left with little choice in the matter since he promised Kirby he'd show him, and this morning the little hero hadn't stopped babbling about it until they left on this current detour.

"Poyo?"

"Yeah, so you just pop it open, and _bam_!" The jester exclaimed, demonstrating his point by making the flower drop a candy. "You have an item." He sighed. Marx had kind of hoped a cake would drop out, or even a lollipop – but no, just a measly little candy, wrapped neatly in red and white.

He pushed the candy over to Kirby with his right foot. "Here, you have it. I'm not really interested in it. I mean, sure, I _love_ food, but it's just a small candy anyway."

He turned his head away when Kirby let out a squeal of delight. The little puffball wasted no time in gobbling up the candy, letting out a content little "poyo!" as he swallowed it. Then, much to Marx's surprise, Kirby went over and kissed him.

Marx took a step back, his eyes narrowing. "Hey! _Quit_ it, Kirby." Oh how he wished he could wipe his mouth, but alas, no hands were available.

"That's not how it works." He continued. "You already ate the whole thing, so there's nothing left to share, okay? Get it?"

Kirby blinked. "Poyo..."

Marx shrugged with a foot. "Eh, well, at least you tried. I knew you would catch on quick, what with your endless compassion and all."

"Marx poyo..." Kirby then said. "M-Marx..f-food? Poyo?"

"Hey, you're getting better! I see my mini lesson this morning wasn't a total waste of time!" Marx laughed.

Kirby laughed along.

As the two of them had their fun, another voice entered the scene.

"Hey, Kirby!" Fumu shouted from a short distance away. She and her brother was currently walking over to their location with slight frowns on their faces, and once they stood before the two, Fumu corrected her mistake.

"Oh, and Marx too..." She said, eyeing him warily. Marx gave her a cute smile, shaking his head to get one of the puffs from his jester hat out of his face.

"Yep!" He said, and then plopped down on the ground next to Kirby, who was currently greeting the two siblings with overenthusiastic happiness. "What brings you here? Wanna play with us again?"

Bun shook his head sadly. "No, but I wish!"

Fumu nodded. "Yeah, we have to attend one of King Dedede's ceremonies in about twenty minutes, so we came over to find Kirby before that."

"Poyo?"

Fumu smiled a little at the star warrior. "We're here to ask if you wanted to help Professor Curio with his excavation later today? You can join us too, Marx, if you feel like it."

There was that overly suspicious look again. Marx wondered what brought it up this time. He hadn't known her for long, but she was really starting to annoy him with her stares. What was he, some sort of circus freak for all to gaze at? He hadn't even done anything _too_ bad yet. Was she perhaps still mad at him for blasting Dyna Blade's chick away?

"Poyo, poyo!" Kirby said, nodding his head in agreement.

Marx gave him a look. "It's yes, Kirby. Y. E. S."

"Y-y-yeesh?" Kirby tried.

Marx stared at him. "...Close enough."

Fumu looked surprised at their brief interaction. "You're teaching him how to talk?" She asked, looking amazed. "That's a great idea! Hey Kirby, I'll help you too!"

"H-help, poyo!" Kirby cheered.

Fumu looked extremely proud, and Bun whistled.

"Nice." The yellow boy said. "I can't wait to have a _real_ conversation with you, Kirby!"

The pink hero squealed.

Fumu then turned her attention back on Marx. "What about you? Will you be joining us later?"

Marx shook his head. "Nope!" He said, popping the 'p'. "I've got some stuff to take care of, but you kids go have fun."

"Hey, you look younger than us, you know!" Bun exclaimed.

"Yeah, but—_ouch_!" Marx cursed as he accidentally bit his tongue with his sharp fangs. A few drops of blood rolled down his lips, and he hurriedly licked them away.

The other three were watching him with curious expressions. Fumu hummed.

"You know, I've been wondering. What kind of species are you, Marx?" She questioned. "We're Cappies, in case you were wondering."

"Well, I wasn't." Marx brushed her question off, content with evading her ridiculous question. "And I don't know. Never met one of my own kind before." He added reluctantly.

That wasn't even a lie, either. Marx truly had no idea what he was supposed to be, who his parents were or where he was born. Heck, he might not even be from planet Popstar to begin with.

It was a weird thought to have.

"What?" Bun said, sounding skeptical. "How can you not know of your own race? That's super weird!"

"I just don't _know_." The purple puffball sneered. "To me, _you're_ the weird ones. Does it even matter?"

"No, I guess not." Fumu relented. "I've just never met anyone like you before...It's strange."

"Don't you have a meeting to attend to or something?"

Fumu and Bun's eyes widened simultaneously.

"Oh no, we're late! Mama and Papa are probably waiting for us! Bun, let's hurry!"

"Yeah!" Her brother agreed. "Kirby, see you at the excavation site later!"

"Poyo!" Kirby waved.

Marx stood back up, his large, purple eyes glinting with mischief.

"Welp, I gotta go too. See ya later, Kirby!"

And thus the little puffball was left to his own devices.

* * *

Marx stood a little ways from the many benches laid out before the podium of Castle Dedede. It was a sunny day filled with bird songs, a soft breeze and many new opportunities, and the cosmic jester couldn't help but question why he was using his precious time listening to this snobbish speech. Escargoon was currently claiming King Dedede to be the Seventeen-thousand and fifty-second ruler in Dream Land, and Marx looked at the empty benches.

Did they even realize no one was there? He caught sight of The Cabinet Minister and his family attending as well – that was probably the customary obligation Fumu and Bun had been talking about.

The only reason Marx was there was because he was planning on sneaking into the castle after Dedede and his goon left to chase whatever scheme their pathetic little brains could come up with. He wondered if the King would ever learn to be anything other than a menace to his people.

He couldn't help but laugh once the penguin and the snail guy _finally_ realized no one was listening to this celebratory commemoration. And as he had predicted, King Dedede and Escargoon soon left the platform to rectify this insolence (to him, at least. Marx didn't think this man deserved anyone's attention).

After that, infiltrating the castle proved to be no challenge whatsoever. Marx had a breeze sneaking past the many Waddle Dees stationed as guards, and getting into the castle was only a matter of utilizing his wings – there weren't any doors near the podium, but several windows were left open. It made him question Dedede's security in general, because it literally _sucked_. He could have just used the podium to enter, but Marx didn't want to take that chance – Dedede could still be there.

As he searched for the main operation room, Marx came across a room filled with various artifacts of Dedede, and among those a particularly large stone tablet caught his eye. He could feel some sort of energy emanating from it, which piqued his interest.

"What's this junk doing here?" He asked.

Entering the room, Marx poked the stone tablet with a foot. A cruel and sinister smile graced his features, his eyes turning a lighter shade of purple.

"Well, _whatever_ it is...why don't I destroy it? I'm sure _that'll_ piss Dedede off, hee hee hee hee!"

Due to the fact that it was pretty huge compared to his admittedly small self, Marx summoned his wings and hovered in front of the stone. From within, Marx began to glow slightly before he willed forth a stream of arrows, the projectiles shooting with such force the stone tablet broke immediately upon impact, crumbling into little heaps of rubble and dust.

"Hahahahaha!" The jester laughed, reveling in a job well done.

Onward he went.

* * *

Marx _did_ eventually find the room containing the connection to Holy Nightmare Corporation, but the hovering throne chair with the button to summon said connection was nowhere to be found.

"Hmm, that's strange." Marx mused, wandering around in search of the chair. "Did Dedede grow a few brain cells and actually _hid_ it?"

This wasn't really a problem, but it was quite annoying.

"I guess I'll just have to make him show me where he hid it."

Marx suddenly paused, having spotted something on a table nearby. It was a telephone you could flip open, and the screen switched on to show the logo of Holy Nightmare Corporation as soon as he did. Marx grinned.

"Or..." He said. "I could just use this one, hehehe!"

Bringing forth his wings, Marx pressed the call button with a claw. He waited for a few seconds before the face of a man he had never seen before showed up, smiling widely at him.

"Welcome to Holy Nightmare Corporation, Your Majes—oh my."

The man stopped talking as soon as he realized the person behind the screen wasn't King Dedede. Marx grinned widely, showing off his razor sharp fangs.

"Hey, hey, hey." He greeted. "Marx is here, reporting for duty!"

It would do him well to pretend he knew what was going on. That book back in the library gave him quite a lot of insight about his alternative self, so Marx had a pretty good idea of where this other Marx stood within Nightmare's Empire...and it wasn't anything he was interested in keeping – neither rank nor deal.

"Marx, what a surprise to see you..._alive_." The service man said.

"Yep. I'm just full of surprises!"

The man beyond the screen nodded. "So you are."

After a brief silence, Marx began tapping his foot impatiently.

"So?" He inquired. "Aren't you going to let me speak with Nightmare or something? It's _him_ I have business with, not _you_."

"As impatient as ever." The man mumbled. "I'll see if he's available, Marx. Though, I do not understand why you aren't back within our base by now, if you are indeed alive. You should have no problems returning with your abilities."

Marx glared. "You ask too many questions, old geezer. Just get on with it before I _mutilate_ you in your sleep. I can do that when I get back." He stated calmly, although on the inside he was mentally going over every possible excuse he could use for not knowing the coordinates to Nightmare's base.

Should he just say he's suffering from slight amnesia? Or would that lie be too obvious? The book did mention something about Marx supposedly dying after wiping out several sections of the GSA.

"And I see that part of your personality hasn't changed either. But there's no need for empty threats, Marx. You won't get your end of our deal if you try to harm me or anyone else under Nightmare. Surely you know of this?"

"Don't _tempt_ me, you useless sack of meat." Marx's eyes turned dangerous. "Just forward me to Nightmare, and you won't have to sleep with the lights on at night."

Marx had had enough of this pointless conversation by now.

"...As you wish." Customer Service relented.

The jester watched on as the screen flicked over to the towering figure of Nightmare himself, his very being as imposing as ever.

Time for business.

* * *

Nightmare was a man of ambition.

And because his most amicable ambition to date included making the entire universe fear his name – for fear was the very emotion that sustained his entire being – Nightmare was determined to see this conquest through. If nightmares existed, so too would he exist, ruling every single creature's minds with the fear his reign caused. To date, Nightmare already owned more than half of the universe. It was a marvelous time to exist, as next to no one dared oppose him.

Some had, of course, been a hindrance to his plans, but those were merely dealt with accordingly. Small, insignificant bugs to squash underneath his rule. Everyone would know not to oppose him, for in the end he was all that would matter.

Nightmare's jaw clenched, his huge hand slamming down on his favorite chessboard. The board cracked on impact, and several pieces scattered around, some falling off, never to return again. He breathed deeply.

There was, of course, the matter of those insolent Star Warriors. Only a few remained, but the fact was that those few should have been eradicated a long time ago with the rest of their _pathetic_ team of galactic defenders. Their resistance was futile, and yet they never stopped trying.

Nightmare let out a sinister laugh.

He rolled a round chess piece back and forth with his bony hand. He gave it a scathing look, and then crushed it, watching as the sawdust ran between his thin fingers. Nightmare never should have tried to replicate one of those puffballs, as _that_ particular pet project went out of hand way before he could do anything about it.

Such insolence wouldn't be allowed. Nightmare refused to rest until all was his for the taking.

It was as simple as that.

He wondered when his surprise Demon Beast would arrive. It was about time he made his presence known. The man of nightmares had taken the news of this beast being alive in stride, finding slight interest in the matter – but only slight.

He could care less about each individual Demon Beast he mass produced, but a few of them were more..._advanced_ than others. Nightmare had thought this beast perished in the war between the GSA, but color him surprised.

He could use this pawn again to wipe out those remaining little worms, and then no one would be able to stand in his way – least of all Kirby.

"Sir, Marx is on the line and is waiting to speak with you." He heard one of his servants say from the reality beyond his warped dream space. Nightmare brushed the dust away and dispelled his vision, returning just in time to see that small little puffball with no arms scowling at Customer Service on their huge television screen.

When the tiny puffball noticed him, he gave his customary greeting.

"Hey, hey hey!" So said the child, his smile wide and friendly.

Nightmare's dark, towering form gave the impression of him looming over the puffball even from behind the screen. It still perplexed Nightmare how such a diminutive creature could hold as much power as he did. All things considered, this little puffball should have been nothing more than a defenseless child, and yet he knew better than to underestimate children. Kirby was, again, one such example.

"Marx." Nightmare said, grinning just as widely as his beast did. "Why are you contacting me through King Dedede's phone? Did you not receive my message to meet me at my base? I won't tolerate laziness." He spoke, his voice reverberating through the vast space in an eerie way.

To his frustration, Marx didn't appear to be intimidated whatsoever. Nightmare could tell the child exuded no fear at all – a slight contrast to how he was back when the two of them had first made their deal.

"Sorry Nightmare, but I think I have amnesia." The little beast said, sticking out his tongue in a playful manner. "I can't remember much of _anything_ before the war, including the coordinates to your base. Hehehe, that's too bad, though, so you'll have to give them to me now!" Marx finished with a demand.

Nightmare's smile twitched. He reached forward with a thin, bony arm and pointed at his minion.

"You don't make the commands here." He said, and then pointed to himself. "I do."

There was a brief silence where the child's eyes narrowed dangerously. To the trained eye, Marx might have seemed like someone wanting to rip out Nightmare's throat with those fangs of his, but that thought alone was laughable and utterly ridiculous. The small beast wouldn't even be able to _nibble_ on one of his fingers.

"But let that be as it may..." Nightmare eventually continued. "If you speak lies, I _will_ dispose of you."

Marx faked surprise. "Now why would I lie when the stakes are that high? That's just _stupid_." He retaliated, frowning slightly. He was indeed wrestling with some hidden emotions, but fear still wasn't among them. Nightmare supposed he could humor this puffball for a bit.

"You will receive the coordinates _only_ when you have proven your strength is still worth my time. If you do indeed have amnesia, then I suppose you don't remember our deal." Nightmare leaned forward, his face dangerously close to the screen. "Let my Customer Service enlighten you."

The man in question bowed deeply.

"Sure, thanks!" Marx cheered.

Nightmare found himself being revolted by this creature's cuteness, enough to make him nauseous – beings like Marx belonged in the sweet dreams of children, not the nightmares he induced.

His most trusted servant then began his retelling.

"Marx, you came to us one day, back when those GSA meddlers chose to resist Nightmare's reign. You had just gained some sort of power from what you described as a giant comet called Nova, and so you chose to make a deal with us. Seeing your potential, Nightmare accepted your condition of owning Planet Popstar. And in return, you would have to become one of his Demon Beasts, helping him eradicate all enemies and conquering the many galaxies. You-"

"What?!" Marx shouted, effectively halting Customer Service's speech. "Wait...Wait wait _wait_!" The little puffball continued, his eyes huge. "You're telling me I came to _you_ when I could have already owned Popstar from the wish Nova granted me?! No way!"

Nightmare laughed. "Your little comet from the times of the Ancients was halted by several of my strongest Demon Beasts within the area. I remember how..._unsatisfied_ that left you, so you saw little other choice than to join me. You told me you realized how futile your plan was when you came to know of my existence. That was the first wise move I had seen from you, and also the reason I forgave you for killing the Demon Beasts that stopped Nova."

Marx had turned eerily quiet, his eyes unblinking. Then, like a switch had been pressed, the jester smiled widely, his gaze looking almost deranged.

"Oh, I see!" He giggled. "My mistake, hahaha! Of course I'd join you, if that was my _only_ option."

The way Marx phrased that sentence felt a bit off to Nightmare, but he brushed it aside.

"Indeed." Nightmare agreed.

"Were you really okay with me owning something though?" Marx suddenly asked.

Nightmare's grin twitched. "I beg your pardon?"

The child nodded. "Yep, I know your type! You're the kind of guy who won't let _anyone_ have _anything_ you could own for yourself, so is this deal even legit? Marx doesn't believe it, nope!"

Right. Nightmare had almost forgotten this puffball's deranged insolence and brilliant mind. Of course the deal had been nothing but a scam, but he hadn't counted on the child figuring it out. Time for a clever lie.

"You are correct. However, Popstar was never among the planets I planned on conquering – no, I have instead chosen to annihilate it once I reach its destination, so I have no need for it. Since you are one of my Demon Beasts with this deal of ours, I see no problem in granting you domain over it."

"How benevolent of you..." Marx muttered, his eyes once again narrowed. "So, let me get this straight. You'll let me have planet Popstar if I help you get rid of the pests in your way? Is that all? A _'scratch each others' backs'_ kind of deal?"

"Yes, that is correct." Nightmare nodded, leaning away from the screen. "But as I mentioned before, I won't give you the coordinates to my base before you show you've still got some worth."

"And how will I do that?"

"Quite simple, really." He said with a broad smile. "Get rid of the Star Warrior known as Kirby."

Marx turned quiet again. In fact, he stayed quiet for so long Customer Service briefly checked the connection to see if the screen had frozen. But no, the little puffball simply remained quiet, until that quiet was broken by a high pitched giggle that soon turned into uncontrollable laughter.

"Hee hee hee hee! Easy peasy! Popstar is as good as _mine_ already, and everyone will bow down to Marx before long!"

Nightmare quirked an eyebrow. This child was beyond deranged. He had no intention of following up on his end of the deal, and once Kirby had been dealt with, the man of nightmares would get rid of this child as well.

"You'll be seeing me a lot sooner than you'd think, Nightmare. Look forward to it!" Marx chirped, sticking out his tongue. "Because as you probably know, I'm in Dreamland right now!"

The purple jester ended the call and disconnected from the main screen. Nightmare stared at it for a few seconds before he returned to his own world of nightmares, adding another purple chess piece back on the board. The piece stood proudly, adorning a jester hat and bowtie, and before it another little piece stood, this one pink.

"Checkmate." Nightmare said, and then he laughed.

* * *

To Marx, it had never been more obvious that Nightmare was playing him for a fool. With one good look, the cosmic jester could easily spot the many lies he spouted.

Well, two could play at that game.

There was _no way_ Marx would be controlled by anyone – least of all someone as _rotten_ as that towering man. But he would play the fool for however long it served him, as he knew his other alternative self had done. It didn't matter that the Marx from this universe had failed in cutting that man into _tiny little pieces_, because he still set up a brilliant plan for him to follow up on.

This wasn't just about taking over Popstar anymore. Marx didn't need Nightmare's help to begin with, but there was no doubt he would be useful to his amazing new scheme. After that though, the man had to go.

Joining Nightmare hadn't been his _only_ option. Not even by far.

It was later that day when Marx joined up with Kirby, Fumu and Bun. They told him of how many treasures and artifacts of King Dedede had been found during their archaeological excavations, which in turn confirmed the penguin's rule as Pupu Land's rightful king. Marx thought back to that stone tablet he had destroyed earlier on and laughed.

"What's so funny, Marx?" Fumu questioned, sounding slightly annoyed. "You keep laughing all the time, are you _sure_ you're okay…?"

"Hehehe! It's just, Dedede is playing you all for a fool!"

"What do you mean?" Bun asked.

"I saw one of those treasures in the castle today, so I bet you my hat he's paid someone to burrow them for the villagers to find."

"What?!" Fumu shouted, her eyes widening. "Oh no, Professor Curio! What did you _do_…?"

"Sis, let's confront him before it gets any worse!"

Fumu nodded. "Yeah!"

"Poyo!"

Marx yawned. "Welp, I'll be at your place if you need me, Kirby."

And with that they all went their own separate ways, three out of the four children not aware of what would soon take place.


	7. Better Be Worth It

Fumu knew something was off.

Okay, well, something was almost _always_ off – what with King Dedede insisting on buying those Demon Beasts – but she knew things had taken an even stranger turn due to what Meta Knight had just told her.

The masked knight had appeared before her in his usual quiet way, getting straight to the point by telling her that Marx was nothing but trouble. Apparently, the jester was somehow working for Nightmare, the being currently at war with the whole universe. Fumu didn't know too much about this dangerous man just yet, but she was smart enough to know he was a threat not only to them, but _everyone_. And if Marx was working for this guy, then her gut feeling had been correct all along. She was able to look past his cute and innocent exterior, piercing through that facade to look at the true threat lurking just beneath. After all, the jester had managed to defeat Kracko all by himself, and in no time at all too. He was dangerous, and a loose card to boot.

Fumu sighed.

"I knew Marx was suspicious, but I never suspected him to be _this_ dangerous..."She fretted, her brows furrowed in worry. "What if he's after Kirby?!"

Meta Knight nodded. "That is a very likely possibility." He said. "It is no secret that Nightmare has sent several Demon Beasts after Kirby, although I suspect he doesn't see him as a true threat quite yet."

The knight was standing with his back to Fumu in the dark halls of the castle, the two of them the only ones present. Fumu wrung her hands together, her eyes searching Meta Knight's form for any more information.

She didn't find any.

"Then..." She began. "What should we do? Marx is already close to Kirby, and everyone has practically accepted his presence here." She slapped her cheeks with her hands. "Ugh, I _knew_ he was strange, I should have just listened to my own intuition! He's creepy too, sometimes, with the way he stares at someone for minutes on end without blinking, or how he always giggles and laughs like someone just told him the funniest joke!"

Meta Knight turned around.

"I regret to inform you that I, too, was lenient in letting him off the hook. I should have taken action when I had the chance back then, but I let my emotions get the better of me." Meta Knight told her in what could be considered a sympathetic tone. "I had heard of his name back when the GSA was at war with Nightmare, however I only chalked it up to a coincidence. The sections destroyed by him was not the ones I was among, so I had no way of knowing his appearance..."

"Yeah...This is really getting out of hand." Fumu said.

"For now, I will come up with a plan to stop Marx while I monitor him carefully. If he shows even the slightest sign of hurting Kirby, I shall intervene. A battle might be in order if it comes to that."

"Will you be okay?" Fumu asked, her eyes meeting Meta Knight's. "We still don't know much about him..."

Meta Knight's gaze seemed piercing. "The future is not set in stone. That is why I will give this time, to observe his movements. It is important to know your enemy."

Fumu noticed he hadn't answered her question. She narrowed her eyes, but didn't push the subject. She would likely gain nothing from doing so anyway.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Meta Knight stayed silent for a while, thinking. Then, after several seconds filled with tension, the knight replied. "You have to stay calm and act like you have always done. Don't let him know you're on to him, but do not act overly friendly either. It is important we don't raise his suspicions." Another brief pause. "...And don't hesitate to inform me of anything we might be able to use against him."

Fumu nodded. "Got it."

They parted ways after that, Fumu heading for the balcony of her home where she could get some fresh air. Her thoughts were a swirling mess, especially after everything that had happened. A few days ago she, along with Bun, Kirby and Professor Curio, had put a stop to the fake excavation scheme before it could even escalate, although it became far easier when it was revealed that one of the stone tablets King Dedede had ordered to be buried for the villagers to find had been completely destroyed. Fumu already had a good idea of who might have had a hand in that, but it only added to her confusion.

Was Marx truly bad? Was everything just an act? For some reason, she doubted it. Beneath all the mischief and insanity the little purple puffball exuded, Fumu had caught sight of someone who genuinely cared about Kirby...It just didn't make any sense.

Meta Knight had told her to stay calm and think rationally. He ensured her that he wouldn't let Marx lay a hand on Kirby, and that they would expose him for the evil villain that he was. Fumu hoped that was the case, because she didn't want to see what would happen if they were too late.

Because despite her conflicted thoughts and emotions, Fumu knew Marx was dangerous.

Once she reached the outside, Fumu caught sight of Lololo and Lalala. Even though the two of them had their backs turned to her, she took notice of how their forms slumped, looking quite down. The two of them were sitting on the edge of one of the castle battlements, and the young girl made her way over to them.

"Hey Lololo. Lalala." She said, greeting them both. "What' wrong? You look sad."

"Ah...Fumu." Lololo said, turning around to face her. Lalala joined her counterpart, both of their expressions looking crestfallen. "It's King Dedede." She said, and then Lololo continued from there. "He threatened to exile us if we don't work separately...He requires us to go our own ways, but we refuse to split up!"

"Yeah!" Lalala nodded. "We've never been apart, and we do everything together!"

"What?!" Fumu shouted, looking shocked. "He said he'd banish you?"

"He'll banish us if we don't work separately..." Lololo confirmed.

"But we're always together." Lalala added.

"That's true." Fumu said, resting her arms and head on the battlement just below the two. "You're both such good friends, aren't you..."

They all let out a collective sigh.

'_That mean king!'_ She thought, internally fuming. _'Just because they refuse to work separately doesn't mean he can just threaten them like that!'_

At that moment, Fumu heard her mother shout at Bun to do his homework – and her brother's typical response was to ask their father for help, but to no avail. There was no getting out of their mother's strict discipline, it would seem.

Lololo and Lalala asked about their parents, but the only response they got were fairy tales even Bun didn't believe in. Fumu told them to stop, and in the end they were all rushed out – their mother even told them they could skip homework, something she had been so insistent about only moments earlier.

They were definitely hiding something, and Fumu knew it had to do with Lololo and Lalala.

* * *

Marx was standing next to Kirby, who was currently jumping up and down while chanting Lololo and Lalala's real name, Lola. The two of them had been there when the ruckus started with the two Demon Beasts asking for their parents, and somehow the Cabinet Minister and his wife hadn't noticed Marx and Kirby at all.

Then again, they were being very quiet – even more so than usual, so it wasn't all that unexpected. _This_, however, was an entirely unexpected turn of events, because apparently Lololo and Lalala were originally one single entity. Marx wondered what Lola used to be like, back when the two of them were one. Oh well, it wasn't like he was ever going to find out, and nor did he think they could be useful to him – aside from them wanting revenge against Nightmare, of course.

It was frighteningly easy to manipulate someone hellbent on revenge.

Fumu and Bun's mother fretted next to them. "You two, can you keep quiet about this?"

"Yes, we wouldn't want to hurt them with this information." The Cabinet Minister agreed.

Marx lifted a foot. "Hmm, I dunno..."

"Lola, Lola!" Kirby cheered on.

"What's in it for us?" Marx finished.

The two adults shared a look.

"We'll give you as much candy as you want?" The father said with a hint of hesitation.

"Deal." The purple jester said, smirking. Then he looked over at Kirby. "But this guy might be a problem..."

"Lola, Lola!" Kirby continued. "Lola!"

In the end, the small pink puffball had to have duct-tape taped over his mouth to keep him quiet. Marx didn't know how useful that was going to be, but he got his candy nonetheless. It was quite the _sweet_ deal. Hehehe.

After he finished eating his fair share of candy, Marx left Kirby to go explore the village. He knew Nightmare had ordered him to get rid of Kirby, and was probably expecting him to do so soon, too, but...Marx had no intention of killing Kirby, because first of all; the little puffball was his friend, whether he liked it or not. Second of all, Marx did not take orders from _anyone_. And third, why kill Kirby when he could use him instead, just like back with Nova? Sure, that plan had crashed and burned – quite literally – but this time was different. Marx would make sure of that.

So instead, the cosmic jester went ahead with his brilliant scheme, which required another player to enter the fray. That was why he was currently wandering through the busy streets of Pupu Village, seizing each and every Cappy he passed with critical eyes.

That one with the uniform? No, he was a cop. That wouldn't work.

The archaeologist? No, too old and wise to fool.

The Mayor or his wife? Nah, they held too much power over this village, although that didn't really matter in the long run.

Marx was looking for someone weak, naive and easy to fool.

Amidst his search, a new Demon Beast cut its way through the crows, holding what appeared to be two rods resembling Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright. Marx watched on as the chaos unfolded, the Beast shouting its name as it cut and rearranged the villagers. In the end, all of them ended up having the bodies of sheep, and Kittari-Hattari even cut King Dedede and Escargoon in half, merging their bodies with that of the other villagers. As for the people? Well, they were currently shouting their distress and running back and forth like lost little sheep.

Marx couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably at that thought.

The abilities of the rods gave him an idea, though.

Eventually, the villagers managed to corner Dedede and ordered him to put them back together, and the penguin reluctantly did so when Escargoon reminded him they were after Kirby and not here to fool around. Marx briefly wondered how he had managed to evade that whole mess, but he guessed his lack of involvement was just pure luck. Either way, that Demon Beast would soon be history.

Marx sneaked up behind Kittari-Hattari while everyone was distracted, and then snatched the rod resembling Mr. Bright – the one being able to merge people back together if they had been split into two separate beings. He giggled, although the metal in his mouth made it hard to do so as he dragged the rod away. Kittari-Hattari and King Dedede both turned around and shouted after him, Dedede even threatening to cut him in half.

Marx ignored them all as he summoned his wings, lifting the rod with his claws and flying off towards the castle, knowing full well the Demon Beast and the penguin – and Escargoon – would follow him.

"Hehehe, now to merge Lololo and Lalala back together! That should be fun."

It didn't take him long to find them, as the two of them were floating before Fumu and Bun. They were all in the middle of a conversation, it would seem, but as soon as he landed behind them they all turned around so fast one would think a huge beast stood behind them.

Fumu's eyes widened, and she took a step back. Then she narrowed her eyes, her gaze never leaving Marx. She studied the rod in his claws, and fear briefly flashed through her eyes.

"Marx? What are you doing here? And what's that?" She asked.

"Whoa, that's one cool-looking rod!" Bun shouted, a smirk forming on his lips. "Where did you get it?!"

"It looks a little..._familiar_, doesn't it, Lololo?" Lalala asked, staring at the rod in question,

"Yeah, it does..."

Marx swung the rod above his head, ready to strike the two floating Demon Beasts. The resulting panic was immediate.

"What are you doing, Marx?! Stop it, you'll hurt them!"

"What the heck, man?! Stop!"

"Lololo!"

"Lalala!"

It was too late, though, as Marx was not one to wait around while the enemy could gain an opportunity over him, so he brought the rod down and smashed it into Lololo and Lalala, and then he laughed as the two began to merge back together.

All three of them watched on as the now flat Lololo and Lalala fused and became a slightly bigger and round ball-like creature with a spiky tuft of yellow hair. Their fur was purple while their gloves and shoes were white, which went well with their equally white eyes – eyes that now held pupils as small as pinpricks in pure shock and bewilderment.

Fumu and Bun looked speechless while Lola slowly rose from the ground, staring at their own hands like they couldn't believe they were back to normal.

"We're..." They began, but then shook their head. "No..._I'm_ me again. Lololo and Lalala...We're once again one being. I can't believe it...I-I had completely forgotten what happened to us – _me_..."

"Lololo...Lalala?" Fumu asked, taking a hesitant step towards them. "What happened?"

Lola turned to face the confused siblings. "We're...I'm Lola. I was...Once a Demon Beast sent to King Dedede after having been split in half by another beast known as Kittari-Hattari. Nightmare thought I was weak and useless, and so did Dedede after I was split..." Lola looked down sadly. "Then the king threw us...me off the edge of the castle, and we tumbled down and landed before your parents back when you were a baby, Fumu."

The two siblings gawked.

"I can't believe it..." Fumu said.

"But it's true, sis. It all makes sense!"

"Well, that went well." Marx mused, throwing the rod away and dispelling his wings.

Lola turned their attention on the jester. "You. Marx." They began, floating over to him. "Thank you for merging me back together. How can we repay you?"

Marx smiled. "Well, let's just say you owe me a favor, okay? Hey, hey, hey!"

They nodded. "Right!"

"This is so surprising!" Fumu said, waving her hands around. "It turned out you weren't siblings, or twins, or cousins, just-"

"One being!" Bun finished, jumping up and down.

"Yes!" Lola cheered, doing a small twirl midair. They looked so happy to be one again.

"But this means King Dedede has bought another Demon Beast again, doesn't it?" Bun questioned.

"I'm sure it does...Where's Kirby?"

Just then, Rick and Tokkori can running towards them at full speed, although something seemed quite off about them. Marx giggled at the sight of their heads merged to each others' bodies, the small head of Tokkori looking ridiculous on Rick's large body.

"What's going on, Tokkori? Rick?" Lola asked, floating over to the two mismatched animals.

"I knew Dedede did something!" Bun exclaimed.

"It should be obvious!" Tokkori said, sounding so done with everything.

"You can see what happened." Rick added.

Then the two of them noticed Lola, and they both blinked.

"Who are you?" Tokkori asked.

"We're Lola! Lololo and Lalala combined." Lola informed them. "It turns out I was one being all along, but had been cut in half by Kittari-Hattari! That's the Demon Beast who did this to you, right?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah, it is...I'm surprised you're back to normal now. How did this happen?"

"I just smashed them with Mr. Bright over there." Marx said, pointing at the rod with a foot.

"You managed to steal that thing?!" Tokkori shouted. "You're trouble, I just know it!"

"More than you'd think..." Fumu whispered, although Marx was able to hear it clearly, what with having a keen sense of hearing.

"Anyway, let's hurry and have Kirby beat up the Demon Beast-"

"I want to go back to normal!" Rick interrupted.

"Where's Kirby?!" They both shouted together.

"You know, I could just-" Marx began, but was interrupted by Kirby running over to them from the open gate of the castle – still with that bandage taped to his mouth, but that did not stop the pink hero from looking as happy as ever.

At the same time, Marx could hear the distant sound of a tank approaching with rapid speed. Oh, this spelled trouble, didn't it? Normally the purple jester was all for chaos, but right now he just wanted to get on with his plan. Why couldn't things just go smoothly? Still, it was his decision to take this detour and fuse Lola back together, so he would just have to be a spectator to Kirby's oncoming fight.

"Yo, Kirby! Now a Demon Beast is-"

"Huh? What's with that bandage?" Rick interrupted him once again.

"How's he supposed to inhale?" Tokkori said.

Right after that, Kirby began his battle against Kittari-Hattari once it and the King and his goon arrived, but the pink hero ended up being split in half – just like Lola had been. The two Kirby's were adorably small, one green and the other orange with a pink bow. Male and Female...Marx supposed it split one being into their masculine and feminine parts?

Lola gathered the two sleeping Kirbys just before Kittari-Hattari could finish them off, and then flew away as fast as their body would carry them. Fumu and Bun followed along, running in the direction the others had headed with determination.

After running around like confused little monkeys – back and forth they went – Marx managed to corner Kittari-Hattari.

"I'll make you into scrap metal!" Marx giggled as he advanced on the Demon Beast.

"Oh no ya don't!" King Dedede shouted, and then he drove his tank right into the jester, sending him flying towards Kittari-Hattari's Mr. Shine rod.

Marx closed his eyes and braced for the pain. He attempted to teleport, warping the space around him to escape the oncoming separation, however he didn't quite manage to avoid being split in half by the beast's weapon. His two halves reappeared a few feet away from Dedede and Kittari-Hattari, staring straight into each others' eyes...one blue and the other pink. The two of them blinked.

"Huh..." They both said at the same time.

The pink version of him giggled, and the blue one scowled.

"This is just _stupid_." He grumbled.

Wasting no more time, the blue Marx jumped up on the tank and proceeded to bite Dedede's arm with his sharp fangs, drawing blood. Dedede roared in pain, swinging the even smaller jester up and down in the air like a bull trying to shake someone off at a rodeo. Once his pink counterpart went for the beast and made it stumble by shadow uppercutting it, blue Marx then let go of Dedede's arm, timing it with the penguin flinging him over to the rod resembling Mr. Bright.

Marx found that he couldn't summon his wings at the moment, so the two smaller parts of himself desperately tried to lift the way too heavy rod with their mouths, but to no avail. Kittari-Hattari was slowly advancing towards them, and Dedede cornered them by blocking off the opposite direction.

"Dededede..." The King snickered. "I'll finally get rid of ya, you little pest! Then Kirby's next!"

Just then, Lola and the two small Kirbys came flying over to them, and Lola placed the two little puffballs next to the equally small jesters. Next, they flung their body at Kittari-Hattari, tackling them to the ground just as Fumu and Bun grabbed the Mr. Bright rod.

"Quick, turn me back to normal!" Marx ordered them, and Fumu hesitated for only a second before she brought the rod down.

Both Marx and Kirby returned to normal with the blink of an eye. The cosmic jester immediately summoned his wings and flew over to the Demon Beast, splitting himself in half with a giggle as the all-consuming black hole sucked the beast in. He showed it absolutely no mercy as it was flung back out as mere scraps of metal, like he had promised it he would.

"AAAAAHHH!" Fumu and Bun shouted as they ran for their lives, desperate not to get sucked into the black hole. Kirby did the same, and King Dedede and Escargoon turned tail and quickly drove away like the devil was chasing them.

Fumu and Bun seemed to at least have the mindset to return Rick and Tokkori back to normal before the rods disappeared along with the Demon Beast, and Marx floated back down, landing softly on the ground.

"Jeez, I should have done that from the beginning!" He complained, dusting himself off with the claws of his wings.

"You-! Marx, what-"

"What was THAT?!" Fumu demanded, trudging over to him with a stern glare. "I didn't know you could-could _split yourself in half_?!

"Hee hee hee hee!" The jester laughed. "Marx is just full of surprises!"

"So it would appear..." Meta Knight said as he rounded the corner. The knight looked calm, yet his stance told an entirely different story. "You seem almost determined to interfere with Kirby's battles, Marx. Are you trying to make him less of the warrior that he will grow up to be, by taking on all of his foes?" The masked knight accused, drawing closer.

Marx shrugged with a foot. "You're overthinking it, _Borb_. I'm just along for the ride." His eyes met Meta Knight's. "Besides, Kirby is strong no matter how many enemies of his I defeat. He's known as the _Pink Demon_ for a reason, you know!"

Bun let out a surprise snort. "_Borb_-" He snickered.

Fumu rounded on him. "And just how do you know so much about Kirby anyway? Who told you all this?"

"Fumu and Meta Knight ask good questions, Marx!" Lola added. "You haven't known Kirby for as long as we have, and even _we_ don't know that much about Kirby..."

"Yeah, and what was with that black hole?! Just how strong _are_ you...and can you teach me how to do that?" Bun said, the last part only a whisper.

Marx felt backed into a corner – literally, as he felt his back press against the cold brick wall of King Dedede's castle. He had half a mind to just get rid of them all then and there, but quickly dismissed the thought. That wouldn't work well with his plan, after all.

Instead, Marx pretended he saw a clock somewhere.

"Whoops, would you look at the time! I gotta go now, see ya!

"Wait-!"

Marx teleported away before further questions could be thrown his way, quickly reappearing back in the village.

* * *

After the whole fiasco with Kittari-Hattari, Marx kept a low profile while searching for someone suitable for the next step of his plan. Things seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, what with Fumu, Meta Knight and the rest of the gang now being overly suspicious of him.

Eventually, Marx came across someone he could use.

Honey, the sweet little Cappy Girl always following around Iro and Spikehead. She was the perfect match for what he needed. She was young, naive and probably very innocent.

Marx's smile widened, his fangs glinting in the sunlight. This was perfect – no, _genius_.

All he had to do was befriend her, and then he could use her to set his plan in motion.

He went over to her, tap-tapping on one of his trusted balls.

"Hey, hey, hey." He greeted her.

She was currently playing hopscotch alone, the two of her other friends nowhere in sight. She looked up from her position, blinking in confusion.

"Yes? H-hi?" She said, looking around nervously. "Is Kirby not here? You're always with him..."

"I am?" Marx asked.

She nodded. "Yeah! You two seem like such great friends."

"Huh..." Marx said, and then he started giggling. "Heh..._hehehehehe_!"

Marx couldn't help it, it was just so _funny_.

Imagine what she would say if she knew his less than friendly history with Kirby – sure, the history he spoke of wasn't shared with this universe's pink ball, but _still_.

"Hehehehe, _HAHAHAHA_!"

Honey looked at him strangely, her stance becoming wary and her eyes shining with unease.

"Why are you laughing?" She asked, taking a step back from him. "Did-did I say something funny? You're _weird_..."

Okay, Marx had to reel back his laughter. It wouldn't do to scare her off this early on. Gaining back his control, the jester cleared his throat.

"Hahaha, sorry! I just thought of a funny joke Bun told me the other day."

"Oh..." She said, sounding slightly less creeped out.

Marx nodded. "Yeah! So, I was wondering if you want to become friends with me? I don't really spend much time with anyone else aside from Kirby, and I would like to get to know others too, you know?"

"Huh? You wanna be friends with me?"

"Yeah, duh! I just said that!"

Honey looked down at the ground, thinking. "...Okay. But don't do that again."

"Do what?"

"Laugh like that for no reason. It's kind of freaky..."

"Sorry, can't promise you that." Marx shrugged with his left foot, bouncing back and forth on his ball.

Honey looked at her game of hopscotch. "...Do you wanna play with me? Spikehead and Iro had to do their homework, so I'm all alone right now."

Marx would rather die, to be honest.

"Sure!" He said happily.

Taking over Popstar better be worth it.


	8. A Ghostly Ordeal

Marx wasn't sure when to strike.

Throughout the week, it became painfully obvious that Kirby would be busy running around the village, helping the Cappies with their various problems and whatnot. First it was the police officer – he and Bun almost fell into a volcano, and Marx felt slightly bad to admit that he would have liked to see that happen.

Then it was that terrible cook, Kawasaki. Marx shook with laughter just thinking about how Kirby was almost eaten, only for Dedede to eat the friend Demon Beast instead. It could have been a grand meal big enough to feed the entire village, if only the penguin had shared, but of course the greedy king didn't.

That didn't stop Marx from sneaking in a few bites. With how Kirby had cooked the thing with the cooking ability, the beast was absolutely delicious.

Of course, without the cooking ability, Kirby was quickly thrown out of the castle, and life soon returned back to normal.

What had Marx been doing while all of this happened? Why, play with Honey, of course. The little Cappy girl was full of adventure and spirit, even if she was slightly shy and hesitant. The jester had her follow along with his various pranks and schemes, and in return he played her games as well – such as jumping rope and playing with a ball. Both activities didn't require arms or hands (as long as he wasn't the one swinging the rope), so Marx was okay with this. Just barely, though.

Lola joined the too sometimes. The newly merged Demon Beast had been well received by the village, and they proved to be quite good at cleaning. Marx heard them tell Meta Knight that they had been assigned to cleaning duties back when they worked for Nightmare, which made sense. If Marx was their master, he likely wouldn't have used them for anything else either.

Actually, maybe he would have made them gather Intel for him, now that he thought about it. Lola was smart, small and nimble, and they could fly and talk. Those qualities seemed perfect for a little spy.

In any case, Marx quickly realized that Lola's returning memories of when they worked for Nightmare Enterprise could be used for his own gain. They would definitely be valuable, just like the jester had predicted.

To no one's surprise, Fumu had been trailing him whenever she had the time, watching him like a hawk ready to devour him. Marx had expected this, so he went out of his way to stay away from the main gang for a while, spending his spare time in the library whenever he wasn't with Honey. It was tedious and a major pain, but there wasn't much else he could do if he wanted to avoid being interrogated.

Well, there were a few other things he could do, but again, he had to stay patient.

Marx knew Meta Knight was lurking around too, just waiting for him to slip up and do something truly evil.

Of course, with the way things were going, Meta Knight would probably have to wait for a while.

Right now, though, Marx had other things to think about.

He had been playing with Honey for a while now, but he still wasn't sure if the time was right to execute his plan. As frustrating as it was, Marx had learned that next to nothing could harm Nightmare, and Kirby certainly wasn't ready for an all-out battle just yet.

Patience, Marx. Patience.

The cosmic jester was currently raiding Dedede's kitchens for any and every type of food he could find. Even after eating half of the king's stash, Marx still wasn't satisfied.

It was enough, though. For now.

"Hmm..." He muttered to himself as he roamed the darkened halls. "It's gotten way too quiet around here."

Just then, a scream pierced through the night air and made Marx startle slightly. He wobbled on his ball, regaining his balance just as King Dedede came running towards him at full speed. Marx quickly jumped out of the way, barely avoiding being run over by the heavyset penguin.

"Hey, what gives?!" The jester shouted, but by then the screaming king was already far ahead of him, banging his hammer on what he presumed to be that Snail – Escargoon's – door.

Trailing behind Dedede at a slower pace, Marx's eyes widened the sight of a genuine ghost floating where Dedede had just come from. The ectoplasmic being stopped briefly before him, giving a quick nod of its head before it disappeared.

"Oh..." Marx said as he realized what was happening. Then he giggled. "Hee hee hee hee, Dedede sure has managed to land himself in trouble, the poor fool!"

This was simply too good to miss out on.

After waiting for the shouting to stop, Dedede came back out of the room dragging a very unwilling Escargoon out, and the two of them stopped just outside of the room the Snail had been in. They hadn't seen Marx yet, as he was silently observing them from behind, and his cute smile and large round eyes turned mischievous as he thought of something.

He had to stop himself from giggling, but he didn't quite do a good enough job as it reverberated throughout the darkened halls.

Whatever King Dedede and Escargoon had been talking about immediately stopped as the two of them straightened their backs and stood completely still.

He heard Dedede whisper "There's no such thing as ghosts, there's no such thing as ghosts, there's no-"

"Y-Your Majesty, I think it's right behind us..." Escargoon whimpered.

Marx's smile widened. He crept up behind the two, slowly, but surely, like a predator about to pounce on its prey. Then he giggled again, which elicited a very unmanly squeak from Dedede and his follower.

"Boo!" He shouted, and off the King and Snail went, screaming their lungs out as they dashed away from him and his high-pitched laughter.

"Oh man!" Marx wished he could wipe the tears of mirth out of his eyes. "They sure are a riot, and so very fun to mess with! Hee hee hee hee!"

Just as the purple jester was about to turn around and roll away on his ball, he caught a glimpse of two additional ghosts, but – no, those weren't ghosts, it was plain obvious that it was just someone with white sheets draped over their bodies. Marx smirked. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on by then. Call him crazy, but he would bet his hat and ball and everything he owned that Kirby was among those two floating "ghosts". With a shrug of his foot, Marx rounded the nearest corner to wait for Dedede – just like the two ghosts were.

Before Dedede reappeared, though, Escargoon walked back the way he had come from, far more calm than before, and he was even snickering. Marx bounced on his ball, wondering what that was all about, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that this was some kind of prank, and the Snail was somehow in on it. Escargoon rounded another corner, and not a second later did a terrified Dedede come running down the hall, screaming something about Escargoon being kidnapped by the ghost.

He stopped abruptly when he noticed the two floating "ghosts", his pupils shrinking into mere dots as let out a startled sound. The king was sweating bullets by the time the two floating apparitions neared him, and Marx could appreciate a prank well done. After all, the king was once again fleeing for his life, terror oozing off of him in waves that pleased Marx to no extend.

"Someone please help me!" Dedede shouted, but to no avail. The two "ghosts" followed close behind him.

What a great way to spend his night. Marx was glad he had decided to raid Dedede's kitchen at this hour, or he might have missed out on all the _fun_.

Dedede's scream pierced the calm night air.

"Music to my ears!" Marx chirped.

He then followed the retreating Kirby and whom he presumed to be Lola over to another corner where Bun jumped out, a smile present on his youthful face. The young Cappy boy unveiled a puffed up Kirby, and Lola took off their own sheet, giggling.

"Did you see his face?" Bun laughed.

Marx joined them not a second later.

"Hey, hey, hey!" He cheered, and the three of them turned around to look at him.

"Oh, it's you..." Bun said, his smile dropping. Kirby blew out the air he had sucked in and ran up to Marx, giving him a hug.

"Marx poyo!" The little puffball cheered. "Poyo, poyo!"

The jester stood there awkwardly for a split second before he pushed Kirby off with his foot. He regretted jumping off his ball now.

"Yes, hello to you too, Kirby." He said, and then gave the pink Star Warrior an evil smirk. "Heh, what's this I see? Up to no good here, Kirby?" He said, looking at his friend. "Lola?" He redirected his gaze up at the fully merged Demon Beast. "And Bun?"

Bun scoffed. "Well, yeah!" He said, puffing up his chest. "Escargoon wanted revenge against King Dedede, and he kind of bribed us with candy, so who are we to say no? Plus this prank is too fun to pass up!"

"Yeah!" Lola nodded. "Escargoon told us that Dedede pranks him all the time, scaring him and such, so he wanted us to help."

"Poyo, candy poyo!"

Marx nodded sagely. "Hm, hm. Then there's only one thing for me to say." He giggled. "Let me in on the fun too! And the candy, we wouldn't want to forget that now, would we?"

Bun looked thoughtful, but then shrugged. "Eh, okay. My sis and Meta Knight don't trust you, and they have several questions for you – or at least my sis does – but you seem like a cool dude. Not at all like the evil villain they're sure you are."

Marx feigned mock-hurt. "Who me? A villain? I've never heard anything more funny!" He laughed. He seemed to do that a lot, now that he thought about it.

"Anyways, we were just about to knock Dedede out and bring him into one of the empty cells. From there all the fun is gonna start!" Bun exclaimed excitedly.

"Poyo!" Kirby cheered, and Lola floated down to pat him on the head.

"I've never felt so alive after being merged! This is too much fun!" They exclaimed.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Marx said.

They nodded to each other, and then rushed off – right before Fumu, Meta Knight, Parm and Memu made their way to where they had just been.

* * *

Securing Dedede to the stone table in the wine cellar with cold and uncaring chains had been no problem for Bun, Lola and Kirby (here Marx had to sit back and watch), and once that was done and over with, the four of them hurried to hide so that the king appeared all alone for when he awoke.

Once he did wake up, he immediately began screaming, distraught and confused.

Marx had to stifle another laugh on top of the fake brick walls next to Kirby, and soon enough Bun – from atop the wall opposite them – gave a thumbs up, to which the pink puffball cheered and proceeded to activate the giant blade that swung back and forth overhead the horrified Penguin. Each time the blade got near the king, Dedede let out a scream.

It stayed like that for a while, and just before Lola was about to push one of the fake brick walls onto the screaming king – as a side note here, Kirby had deactivated the blade – Marx summoned his wings and teleported straight to the king, hovering above him with one of the cruelest looks he had ever managed to give someone.

When he was sure he had King Dedede's entire attention focused on him, the cosmic jester's eyes turned pitch-black, and then they _fell out of his sockets _like he was crying – literally. The black eyeballs kept falling out as his smile widened when they landed on Dedede and knocked him out cold – though not before letting Marx hear some sickeningly sweet screams come from the penguin.

And, now that he listened closely, from Bun and Lola as well. Huh? Why were they screaming too? It wasn't like he was hurting _them_.

He turned his black eyes on them as the last two eyeballs fell out of his sockets before they returned to his normal white and purple shade.

"Wh-wh-what was that?!" Bun all but screamed, just like Dedede had. Lola gasped at the sight, and Kirby merely looked confused, as if he wanted to make sure Marx was okay.

"Marx crying poyo?"

"Nevermind that Kirby, he's a literal demon!" Bun continued, looking beyond horrified.

When Marx went to join them up on the wall, everyone but Kirby took a step back.

"S-stay away, Marx! You're...some kind of freak, aren't you?!"

"You hurt Dedede!" Lola added.

"Hey, hey, hey. What's this now? I only scared the poor fool half to death is all. No harm done. Nope!" Marx said, shrugging with his foot.

"You liar!" Bun accused.

"What is going on here?!" Another voice called suddenly, making everyone (minus Dedede) turn their heads.

The lights turned on, and in came Fumu, Memu, Parm and Meta Knight. At the sight of them, a shivering Escargoon crawled out of his hiding place as well, eyeing Marx like he was the devil himself. Meta Knight took one good look at the injured King Dedede and walked over to his Liege, slicing through the metal chains with little to no effort. The masked knight looked around the room until his eyes landed on Marx.

The purple puffball stuck out his tongue, and Marx thought he saw Meta Knight's eyes narrow.

"Bun? Lola?" Fumu said, looking at their scared expressions.

Kirby?" Memu added, and her husband noted the appearance of Escargoon as well.

"I'll ask again; what is going on here?" Meta Knight stated, his voice calmer now. "And why is King Dedede injured?"

"Why don't you explain?" Parm added in a stern tone.

Marx suddenly found this all very boring.

"Marx did it!" Bun exclaimed suddenly. "He's a demon!"

"Am not!" Marx shouted in mock-hurt.

Fumu took a step forward. "So, am I correct in assuming Marx is the one responsible for all of this? What did you do, Marx?" She looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Hey!" Marx said. "I only made Dedede faint! The rest-" He pointed a foot at Bun, Lola, Kirby and Escargoon. "is all on them!"

Meta Knight also stepped forward. "And by making King Dedede faint, you hurt him until he became unconscious? That is a serious offense I cannot take lightly." He placed his hand on his sword.

"I'm sorry, everyone!" Escargoon suddenly exclaimed, putting a stop to what might as well have been the beginning of a fight. "This...this was my revenge."

"Revenge?" Fumu asked, confused.

Escargoon proceeded to tell them how King Dedede had pranked and scared him so many times that he didn't even dare go to the bathroom at night, and that he had to retaliate for all he had done to him. After his sob story was over, he then pointed at Marx.

"I might have bribed Bun, Lola, Kirby and several others to help me with this prank, but I didn't ask _him_ for help. He just decided to tag along, and look at what he's done! That was the scariest thing I have ever seen!"

"Seen? What did you see, Escargoon?" Fumu asked, now very interested in the story.

"His eyeballs turned black and rolled out of his sockets! That's what hurt Dedede!" Bun finished the story with a light shake.

"First that black hole, and now this..." Fumu said, her eyes wide. "What kind of creature are you, Marx?!"

Marx would have shrugged if he could, but instead he just yawned and went to leave. He was immediately stopped by Meta Knight drawing his sword and blocking his way, to which the jester let out a frustrated sigh.

"Can we not do this right now? I'm kind of tired and bored..."

"I don't think so." Meta Knight stated.

Just then, Dedede let out a groan of pain, and the entire party turned their heads to look at the dazed penguin.

"Wh-what hit me…?" Dedede mumbled.

This was perfect. Marx could sneak out while they were all busy fretting over the hurt king, and that's exactly what he did – or, he would have, if it wasn't for Meta Knight. His piercing yellow eyes bore into him like he wanted to slice him in half, and to this gaze Marx only smiled smugly.

Bring it on, Borb.

Finally, after what seemed like minutes (but was most likely only seconds), Meta Knight lowered his sword and let the jester go. For now.

"This isn't over." The knight stated calmly.

Marx didn't dream on it.


End file.
